If you substitute cauliflower for the potatoes, you can make a great low-carb Atkins friendly soup that will taste exactly like the original restaurant recipe from The Olive Garden™.  Another option would be to cook this up in a programmable crock pot with the pre-cooked sausage and backon in there.  It will be ready for you when you get home.  Just add the kale and cream before serving.

Serve this with a nice basket of Olive Garden™ Breadsticks and their house salad. A wonderful lunch or dinner meal for you and your family.

Recipe

• 1 lb. spicy Italian sausage – crumbled
• 1/2 lb. smoked bacon – chopped
• 1 qt. water
• (2) 14.5 oz. cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth
• 2 lg. russet potatoes – scrubbed clean, cubed
• 2 garlic cloves – peeled, crushed
• 1 med. onion – peeled, chopped
• 2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper – to taste

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a pan over medium to medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.
2. Drain sausage and set to the side.
3. Brown bacan in a pan over medium-high heat. Be careful not to cook crispy.
4. Drain bacon and set to the side.
5. Place broth, water, garlic, potatoes, and onion in a pot.
6. Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
7. Add sausage and bacon to the soup.
8. Simmer for 10 minutes.
9. Add kale and cream to pot.
10. Season with salt and pepper.
11. Heat thoroughly.

This is an amazing blend of sauteed chicken topped with asparagus and melted cheese.  This is all topped with mushrooms in a Madeira wine sauce.  The Cheesecake Factory™ serves this with a generous portion of mashed potatoes.

Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 boneless chicken breast
8 asparagus spears
4 slices mozzarella cheese

Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
3 cups Madeira wine
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Cover chicken breast with plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thick.
2. Sprinkle each filet with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in frying pan over medium-high heat.
4. Saute fillets 4-6 minutes per side until done and browned just a bit.
5. Remove from pan and wrap in foil to keep warm while you make the sauce.
6. In chicken pan add olive oil and sliced mushrooms; saute for about 2 minutes.
7. Add Madeira wine, beef stock, butter, and pepper.
8. Bring to boil then reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes until reduced to about 1/2 original volume. When sauce is done it will be thick, and brown.
9. While sauce is reducing, bring a pan of water to boil.
10. Add salt to water at boil; blanch asparagus (3-5 minutes). Drop asparagus in ice water to halt cooking.
11. Set oven to broil.
12. In baking dish arrange chicken, cross 2 asparagus stems over each piece of chicken and top with a slice of cheese.
13. Broil until cheese melts.
14. Put chicken on plate.
15. To serve, top with 3-4 tablespoons sauce on each piece.

Part of the secret to this recipe tasting just like the one you’ll find in Olive Garden™ is the type of wine you use.  Most people suggest using a Lambrusco wine.  Don’t spend too much money on the wine since you’re just going to drown it in the other ingredients.  Also make sure you’re mixing the sugar water before adding it to the blend.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 liters red table wine
• 1 cup grenadine
• 2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
• 1 1/4 cups sweet vermouth
• strawberries, cut into thirds
• oranges, slice thin,then quartered
• crushed ice

Sugar Water

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water (half sugar, half water)

Directions

1. Dissolve the sugar in water in a large container (at least 1 gallon)
2. Combine the sugar water and the remaining ingredients (excluding the crushed ice).
3. Place in the refridgerator at least 4-5 hours.  If possible leave overnight.
4. Pour mix, including fruit, into a serving glass and add the crushed ice.

A light and cripsy flat bread with a nice chunky tomato mixture, topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  It’s reminds me of a very fresh and natural tasting pizza.

This is a great light snack you can enjoy on the patio with a crisp white wine such as Pinot Grigio.  Make a little extra and it could pass as a light main course served with a cool salad.

Ok, time to make this wonderful dish:

RECIPE

• 8 Roma or plum tomatoes, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 10 medium fresh basil leaves, stemmed and shopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 11 oz container of refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
• 1 garlic clove
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Dice tomatoes into small pieces and transfer to a mixing bowl.
3. Add chopped garlic, salt, pepper, 1/2 of the chopped basil (about 1/4 cup), and 4 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
4. Set aside and allow the mixture to marinate for 10 minutes
5. Flatten pizza dough into a rectangle pan as indicated on the package, making sure you take the dough to the edge of the pan.
6. Drizzle the dough with extra virgin olive oil and brush it over the surface.
7. Bake the dough in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes on center race.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 2 minutes.
9. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub, cut side down, on to the surface of the bread. The warmth of the bread will help extract the garlic flavor.
10. Allow the bread to cool completely, about 10 additional minutes.
11. Increase the oven temperature to 450°F.
12. Combine mayonnaise and garlic powder in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread onto the surface of the bread.
13. Top with shredded mozzarella to evenly cover the surface.
14. Drain the Caprese mixture, as the salt will have extracted water from the tomatoes, and spread it evenly over the bread.
15. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
16. Return to the oven for 5-7 more minutes until golden, crisp and bubbly.
17. Garnish with the remaining chopped basil

Serve immediately.

A cool crisp salad with a great tangy dressing makes this a great way to start your meal.  Fresh tossed at your table with Parmesan cheese grated right there on your salad.  With everything being prepared at your table, it’s one of the most anticipated salads you’ll eat.

Note: make sure you’re mixing this up in a chilled salad bowl.  This will add greatly to the fresh and crispy texture of the salad.

SALAD RECIPE:

• 1 bag American Blend Salad (Dole works well)
• 4-5 slices Red Onion
• 4-6 Black Olives
• 2-4 Pickled Pepperoncini
• 1/2 cup Croutons
• 1 small Tomato sliced
• Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

DRESSING RECIPE:

• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup White Vinegar
• 1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
• 2 Tbsp. Corn Syrup
• 2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tbsp. Romano Cheese
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
• Sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Dressing:

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed (approximately 30 seconds).
2. If this is a little to tart for your own personal tastes please add a little extra sugar.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Salad:

1. Chill a glass salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes.
2. Place the bag of salad in bowl.
3. Place on top of the lettuce – red onion, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons.
4. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like.
5. Add plenty of Olive Garden™ Salad Dressing on top.

I’m not a Tiramisu expert, but I’ve heard many people say that the Olive Garden™ recipe is one of the better ones you’ll find.  I had some Tiramisu at a little Italian bakery in the Little Italy part of San Franscisco.  It was amazing, but i think the atmosphere had a lot to do with it.

When you make this recipe, make sure you add plenty of sugar to keep it from that “cheese taste”.  This is a dessert, not an appetizer, so don’t be afraid to sweeten it up.

One of the restaurant recipes floating around uses sponge cake.  One trip to The Olive Garden and you’ll know it’s made with lady fingers, not sponge cake.  The following is the real deal.

Recipe:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup grandulated sugar
• 3 cups mascarpone cheese (this is an Italian cream cheese)
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 20 – 24 lady fingers
• 1/4 cup cold espresso
• 1/4 cup Kahlua coffee liqueur
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium/high heat, then reduce heat so that the water is simmering. Whisk egg yolks, milk and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan (you can also use a double boiler for this step). Stir the mixture often for ten minutes. After the sugar dissolves the mixture should begin to thicken and turn light yellow. Remove it from the heat to cool.
   
2. Use an electric mixer to combine mascarpone, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until mostly creamy, but with a few small chunks remaining.
3. Add egg yolk mixture to the cheese mixture and mix just until well-combined.
4. Combine espresso and Kahlua in a small bowl. Pour this mixture onto a dinner plate. One-by-one touch the bottom of each lady finger in the espresso. The lady finger will quickly soak up the espresso/Kahlua mixture, but you don’t want the lady finger soaked — just a dab will do ya. The top half of each lady finger should still be dry. Arrange the soaked lady fingers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8×8-inch serving dish or baking pan.
   
5. Spoon about half of the cheese mixture over the lady fingers, then add another layer of soaked lady fingers on top of the cheese mixture.
   
6. Spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of lady fingers and spread it evenly.
   
7. Put two teaspoons of cocoa powder in a tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side of the strainer to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.
   
8. Cover and chill for several hours. To serve, slice the dessert twice across and down creating 9 even portions (the first serving is always the hardest to get out).

There appears to be a bit of a controversy about the inclusion of oregano in the recipe. Many have said true Olive Garden™ bread sticks don’t have any oregano. Keep this in mind when you make these up for your family. Crumble up the oregano very fine and don’t over do it on each stick. If you want to see if you can tell the difference, just skip the oregano on a couple of the bread sticks. After all, it’s your taste buds you’re looking to satisfy.

Recipe:

• 1 Loaf frozen bread dough, thawed and brought to room tempurature
• Pam vegetable spray
• Garlic Powder to taste
• Dried oregano leaf, rubbed to a fine powder

Once the dough has been resting at room tempurature, spray a small amount of Pam on your finger tips and begin to knead the dough but don’t over do it.

Take the dough and roll out small little cigar shaped sticks. You should be able to get 8 to 10 sticks from each frozen package of dough.

Spray a cookie sheet with a light coating of Pam vegetable spray.

Lay the bread sticks out on the cookie sheet approximately 3 inches apart.

Let the dough rise in a nice warm area until they’ve doubled in size. This should take between 1 1/2 and 2 hours.

Lightly spray the tops of each loaf with more Pam vegetable spray and sprinkle with some garlic powder and the fine oregano powder.

Bake at 375 degree for approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool on the sheets or a cooling rack and serve warm.

Olive Garden™ Minestrone soup not only tastes amazing, it leaves you feeling quite full. One of the most searched for restaurant recipes, you’ll be proud to serve this to your family or friends. This isn’t the quickest recipe, but it’s definitely worth the effort.

I heard the real secret on this is to add a bit of red wine to the stock.  I didn’t put that into the “official” recipe, but you can feel free to experiment.

Recipe

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small minced white onion
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/2 cup frozen cut Italian green beans
• 1/2 stalk minced celery
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cans (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained
• 2 cans (15 oz) great northern or small white beans, drained
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 cups hot water
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup small shell pasta

Measure olive oil into a large stock pot and heat on medium.

Put the onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini into the pot and saute for about 5 minutes or until the onions become see-through.

Add the vegetable broth, drained tomatoes, beans, carrots, hot water and spices to the pot.

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the spinach leaves and the pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

One visit to Olive Garden™ and you’ll know there are real chunks of garlic in there, not powder. I’ve also never heard of Alfredo sauce including cream cheese. So, after a lot of searching I’ve found what I believe is the real Olive Garden™ Alfredo Sauce recipe. If you have inside information, please post a comment and I’ll try to correct this.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. butter cut into ~1″ cubes
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 4 ounces white sauce powder
• 4 ounces whole milk
• 4 cubs heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 1/2 lbs grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Melt better slowly in a medium saucepan.
2. Add in the garlic and cook until browned. Be careful not to burn the garlic. It will become very bitter tasting if you do.
3. Add in the white sauce powder and the milk. White sauce powder can be found in your local grocery store along with the powdered gravy mixes.
4. Add in the heavy whipping cream and stir. It’s very important you use the full fat heavy whipping cream for the right texture.
5. Add the black pepper and stir.
6. Add in the Parmesan cheese and mix evenly while brining the sauce to 180 degrees. This will melt the cheese without boiling over or causing the bottom to burn.
7. Turn off the heat and serve immediately over your favorite pasta.