Yummy Lasagna Soup

  (photo via A Farm Girl's Dabbles)

If you LOVE lasagna, you must give this soup I found from A Farm Girl's Dabbles blog a try!  It's amazing and the perfect comfort food for those chilly days or nights!  And it was really easy to throw together, which is always a bonus in my book! 

So, here's what mine looked like, since I couldn't find the noodles called for in the recipe, but these noodles were fun and I'd never had them before, or even heard of them for that matter.

 My version

 Have you ever heard of these???  

Or am I just noodle-sheltered?

And here is proof that this soup is GOOD...

Check out who's eating it...

And I can NEVER get them to eat soup of any kind.

Proof positive that you must try this out tonight!

Lasagna Soup

(recipe via A Farm Girl's Dabbles)

8 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage (I used 2 pounds)
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 (You saw what I used...)  :)
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I just tossed in a few shakes of some dry basil)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (didn't even need any!)


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.