AIP Zuppa Toscana

This is an AIP version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. This is my husband's favorite soup and we used to eat it often, but since I started AIP, I only made it once. This was because I didn't understand AIP well enough to accurately substitute enough ingredients and the first time I made it... It was Terrible! Lucky for you, I've figured it out! I will note each item that is a reintro and an AIP version that you can use etc. throughout the recipe.

Rating:

Difficulty --> 2
Ingredients --> 3
Time --> 4 (about an hour)

Tools:

Stove
Soup Pot
Ladle
Knife
Cutting Board

Ingredients:

Ground Meat (I used to use Italian Sausage, but that is not AIP, so now I use ground beef, but you can use any AIP ground meat that you prefer)
Yuca root (about 3-4 medium sized roots)
Baby Spinach (you can also sub kale, collards or other greens, just make sure if you use something thicker than spinach, that you boil it a little bit and also cut it into smaller size easier to eat etc.)
Bacon (This is not generally AIP elimination phase compliant, so leave it out if needed)
Bone Broth (I actually use turkey broth, but that is certainly a reintro)
Garlic - about 4 cloves
Onion - about one onion
Mushrooms
Olive Oil

Instructions:

Chop the onion and garlic
Saute' the bacon, onion and garlic in 2 tsp olive oil, for a minute or two, then add the ground meat and cook that through (once cooked set aside)
While sauteing, peel the yuca root and chop it into circle slices about 1/4 inch wide
After setting the meat aside, add the broth and a cup or two of water to your pot, bring to boil
While waiting for that to boil, chop your veggies
Once the broth is boiling, add the yuca and simmer for about 15 minutes or until almost cooked through. This ingredient will cook similar to potatoes and you can observe it changing color and cooking through by stiring gently.
Next add the mushrooms and greens (if you used a green that needs boiling - if you used baby spinach you will add that later instead)
Let the mushrooms boil for about 5 minutes, stir in the meat that you set aside earlier.
Now prepare your bowl if you're using baby spinach, put a bunch of leaves in the bottom of the bowl then add your soup on top!

Enjoy! If you can have cream, feel free to add that, though it is certainly not AIP, if you're using bacon, cook that in the beginning with your ground meat - in bite sized pieces. My husband likes to add shredded cheese on top of his, and also red pepper flakes, both of which are not AIP so I leave them out from my bowl etc.