lasagna soup

Monday my mother-in-law came to help me out and watch the kids, and it was awesome. The first thing I did was take a shower and put on a real outfit. Then I made a meal plan for the week...the first time I have done this since Harriet has arrived. I followed it up by making a grocery list and then I went grocery shopping by myself. It was a dreamy day.

I got home, put the groceries away and closer to suppertime I made this soup.

Yum. O. It is a keeper.

It was easy and fairly quick to make. It was delicious. And since I am one who typically doesn't enjoy coming up with suppertime ideas, I thought I'd pass it along to you.

Lasagna Soup
8 ounces elbows pasta (or any soup spoon size pasta)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage (found by the hamburger)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken stock (I used 8 cups because that's two boxes)
1 (28-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I used regular...it's what I had)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
For the ricotta mixture
8 ounces ricotta (I used some cottage cheese too...)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and Pepper, to taste

*Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat. Add garlic, onion, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chicken stock, diced tomatoes and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.

*In a small bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, salt and pepper, to taste; set aside. Cut the basil really thin, set aside.

*In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta one minute less than the package instructions say for al dente; strain and run under cold water, set aside. I never mix my noodles in with the whole batch of soup. They get too mushy. I assemble each bowl, adding noodles separately. It means I have the soup frozen right now without the noodles. I'll cook noodles when I pull out that tub of soup...

Assemble each bowl with the tomato soup, noodles and a small spoonful of the ricotta mixture (we got overzealous the first bowl and it was too rich!), some mozzarella and basil.

It's so good! Enjoy!