Operation Easter Dinner: Zuppa Toscana Soup (Tori Style)

Today's recipe comes from my friend Tori and I am so excited to share it with you guys. Hope you enjoy!

Tori says, "Let me start off by saying this makes a huge pot of soup, however, my family of five can more than take care of it. If you don't need as much, you can always cut the recipe in half or make the entire recipe and freeze half of it for a make-ahead meal."

1 lb. hot Italian sausage (if you don't like hot sausage you can use all mild)
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
6 thick slices of bacon, diced very small (it is much easier to dice bacon if you put it in the freezer for
about 10 minutes before cutting it up)
1 onion, diced small
6 cloves garlic, minced (if you don't like this much garlic feel free to use less)
6 medium potatoes, diced, skins on (I have used anything from a russet to a yellow golden potato, whatever you have in your pantry)
32-oz. chicken stock
3 c. water
1/5 c. half-and-half
4-5 c. kale, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage in a large skillet with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil. (I bought my sausage in the casing and just took the casing off and crumbled the sausage.)
Brown the bacon with sausage until crisp.
When the bacon and sausage are really brown, add onion and garlic. Cook just until the onions start to get soft. They will finish cooking when you add the liquid and the potatoes.
Add diced potatoes.
Add chicken stock and water.
Simmer until potatoes are almost fork-tender.
Add half-and-half and kale.
Simmer for about 10 minutes to finish cooking potatoes and to cook the kale.
Enjoy!

P.S. A slice of crusty bread to soak up all of the leftover liquid would be amazing... however, any excuse to eat a slice of bread works for me :-)