Lasagna Soup

Last night I got Brent to eat tomatoes...and he liked them. If you know my husband, you know that this is absolutely amazing. See, as much as I love my husband, his taste pallet is that of a 6yr olds. lol While everyone's plates on Holidays are full of different colored veggies and sides...his are always brown (meat), white (potatoes) and yellow (pasta or corn). So when he tried my soup, with big chunks of fire roasted tomatoes AND 1cup of chopped onions and said he liked it and then ate 2 huge bowls, I almost fell over!

With that being said, if you know my husband will eat it, then you know this is some pretty awesome soup. The name alone, to me, makes it sound tasty. AND I even made it look pretty! A lot of times I will try to make something and it tastes really good but the appearance isn't what the pic looks like at all. lol. This soup, however, looked very very close to the picture of the professionals!

SO I present to you...Lasagna Soup!

(this is not my pic but mine looked pretty much just like this)

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
3 c. chopped onions (we are not an onion family so I only used 1cup and it was great)
4 garlic cloves, minced (1/8tsp of garlic powder =1garlic clove)
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Servings:  8