Pinterest Win: Lasagna Soup

I tell ya what - Pinterest has been one of the best things that happened to my kitchen. Our meals went from fairly bland to majorly kicked up seemingly overnight.

This soup is incredible! It's so perfect for Winter 2013/2014 because it has been so freaking cold! I will always have fond memories of curling up with a cup of this soup on my maternity leave with Kendrick snuggled in my arms watching Christmas movies all day: It was idyllic.

Cashel LOVES it (especially the cheesy "YUM").

I'll start by posting the link to this incredible recipe I found from the blog A Farmgirl's Dabbles, which she adapted from the stuff below:

Source: Adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, as seen in the February-April 2011 edition of At Home with Kowalski's magazine from Kowalski’s Markets.

Her photo is way better than mine too, but I can guarantee that the soup probably tastes just as good from my kitchen as it does in hers. Granted, I added WAY more cheesy yum lol

So here's how this recipe went down:

Lasagna Soup

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

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
• 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

Additional cheesy yum:

• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

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 and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the 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.

Make this soup. Tonight. It is SO good! I've tried it in the crockpot (just add the noodles the last 20 minutes or something), and also made it up in the pot and stuffed it in the fridge overnight and just put it on the stove for 30 minutes before supper, and both ways have turned out great. I would imagine that the base (sans cheesy yum) would freeze great too, but I haven't tried it.