I always hesitate to try more then one new recipe in a week in fear of having to many “iffy” meals. My boys are becoming quite the food critics, in a good way, sort of. So when I’m exploring my cookbooks or looking on Pinterest for new recipes to try, I try to keep to one new one a week. BUT this week I tried two. The first one was a twist to a recipe that I have made before and it was a fantastic turn out. So much so that my husband called to tell me It was fantastic. (We had different schedules that prevented us eating together last night) My kids even said “This is the best!” So having such success on one new recipe I was hesitant to try a new one. Because honestly in the past, I get excited and maybe prideful that a recipe turned out so well, and the next evening we end up eating grilled cheese because the recipe failed. Hahaha. But this week has been so flavorful, I just had to share this recipe.
I have actually had this recipe for a few years. My mom and another friend sent me this with each having a slight variation to it. I just never have tried it until today. It was one of those days I forgot to take out meat from the freezer, then homeschool mixed with public school band, and then Keith and I ended up spending the afternoon tapping our maple trees. We anticipate the weather to warm up above 32° and the sap to start flowing good tomorrow, so my afternoon was spent out in the 9° with a wind chill of -2°. Did I say I am looking forward to the warmer weather tomorrow? After a afternoon out in that wind chill, soup sounded really good. So I dug through my books looking for recipes using burger meat. I saw this one and had most of all the ingredients so I figured I would try it. Good thing I did, because my boys said this was a HOME RUN, the kind that they’d would run home for! SCORE!! With fresh bread this was the perfect soup to warm up to.
Lasagna Soup
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds of Italian sausage (now I didn’t have this, I used burger seasoned with 1 tsp Italian seasoning and 1 tsp Adobo)
3 chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried oregano (I used 2 drops of oregano essential oil)
1/2 cup tomato sauce, half a can
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes with chilies
2 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock
8 oz Mafalda or fusilli pasta ( I actually didn’t have this so I used a box of lasagna noodles that I did have, I just broke them into little pieces)
Salt and pepper to taste
For topping:
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
2 cups mozzarella cheese.
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage or burger and brown. If using burger, add the Italian seasoning while browning. When brown add onions and cook till softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and oregano. Cook one minute. Add tomato sauce. Stir well to incorporate. Cook about 3 minute. Stir in diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook till al dente. Do not over cook or the pasta will soak up all the liquid. If you want, cook the pasta separate and pour in your bowl an drink top it with your soup. That way the pasta won’t absorb all the liquid.
Mix together the ricotta, Parmesan and salt.
Serve up your bowl with pasta and soup. Top with ricotta mixture and mozzarella. Stir well and enjoy with fresh bread. Delicious!
