Lasagna Soup

I've been looking forward to making this soup for days now, or actually eating this soup.  And it did not disappoint.  

It's kinda nippy here, even in the desert.  It's been raining on and off for two days....crazy!  I don't need cold weather to have soup, but it just makes it that much better.  

To me, this literally tasted like lasagna in soup form.  I couldn't stop sampling it before dinner!  I left out the basil accidentally, so it could have been even just a little bit better, but I'm not sure I could have stood it !

Here's the recipe that I found from A Farm Girl's Dabbles.  Hope you like it.

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
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 (I used broken lasagna noodles)
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

PREPARATION

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

I'm planning to make some Candy Cane Snowball cookies for a cookie exchange this weekend.  I'll post them either Sunday night or Monday morning...see ya then!