Whiteley Creek Homestead

My eyes fell upon this lasagna soup recipe on my daughter Jessie's Pinterest page. She had repinned it from another's Pinterest page, who had repinned it from another's… and so it goes. The trail led me to Brenda on her blog, A Farmgirl's Dabble. She had found the recipe in the February-April 2011 edition of "At Home with Kowalski's Magazine" from Kowalski's Markets, with nine locations in the Twin Cities area. The recipe was adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds. Flavorful and hearty. Perfect for a chilly November day.

Lasagna Soup

Makes 8 servings.

Soup:

2 tsp olive oil

1 ½ lbs Italian sausage (I used mild.)

3 c chopped onions (I used 1 large.)

4 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2.)

2 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ c finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I subbed 2 tsp dried
basil.)

2 tbsp tomato paste (I subbed mild salsa.)

1-28 oz can roasted diced tomatoes (I used 2-14.5 oz cans
Eden Organic Unpeeled Diced Tomatoes.)

2 bay leaves

6 c chicken stock (or broth)

8 oz mafalda or fusilli pasta (I used Eden Organic Kamut
Spirals + a little leftover E.O. Veggie Spirals.)

salt and pepper

Cheese mixture:

8 oz ricotta (I subbed 1 c cottage cheese.)

½ c grated Parmesan cheese

¼ tsp salt

pinch pepper

2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a soup pot. Add sausage, breaking up into
bite size pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until
softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and dried
basil. (If using fresh basil, the recipe states to stir in just before
serving.) Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste (or salsa) and stir well to
incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until 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 according to package directions. Do not overcook, or let soup
simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and
absorb all the soup’s broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While the
pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese mixture. In a small bowl, combine the
ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan, salt, and pepper. To serve place a
(large) dollop of the cheese mixture in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the
mozzarella, and ladle the hot soup over cheese to melt. (Alternately, you can place the cheese mixture on top of the soup to melt.)