A Different Kind of Lasagna

Lasagna Soup

As I scrolled through my newsfeed on Facebook, I saw a Tip Hero post and they were showing how to make this recipe. I was immediately intrigued because Lasagna is my favorite Italian food. One of my favorite things about food is the different amount of ways you can create it. I would have never thought you can turn lasagna into soup, but it is possible and it’s so, so good.

What’s my favorite part of this meal???

·      Without a doubt, my favorite part of this meal is the ricotta cheese mix that gets added to the top of the soup when it’s all done. In my opinion, it makes the meal!

What could you go without???

·      With every recipe, there’s always one ingredient that doesn’t always need to be added. When I looked at the list of ingredients for this meal, I was a bit hesitant to add the red pepper flakes because of the amount of heat that it could add to the meal. However, the first time I made this recipe, I decided to just add it in because I wanted to see what it would taste like. Well, it turned out to be wayyyyy too much spice. Since it’s a soup, the “soup” part of it was a bit too spicy for me. For most of you, I am sure you could handle the red pepper flakes recommended for this recipe, but for me, it was too much. The next time I made this meal, I added very little.

It’s incredibly simple to make and is definitely a meal you can cook after a day at work. Below you will find the ingredients needed and the directions of how to make it! I’m happy I came across this meal on my newsfeed. Thanks http://tiphero.com for sharing it! J

(Please note: I had to use Rotini Noodles because I couldn’t find Fusilli)

Servings: 6 – 8

Ingredients:

·      1-1/2 pounds Italian sausage

·      3 cups chopped onions (about 1 1/2 large onions)

·      4 garlic cloves, minced

·      2 teaspoons dried oregano

·      1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·      2 tablespoons tomato paste

·      28 ounces petite-diced tomatoes

·      2 bay leaves

·      6 cups chicken stock

·      8 ounces fusilli pasta

·      1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves

·      salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I didn’t add any salt because the sausage, tomatoes, broth and cheese were salty enough )

·      8 ounces of ricotta

·      1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

·      pinch of freshly ground pepper

·      2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.      Sauté meat in a large pot over medium-high heat until browned, about five minutes. Adding oil to the pan wasn’t necessary because the sausage gives off enough fat on its own.

2.     Add the onions and garlic to the pot and cook until the onions have softened, about five minutes.

3.     Stir in the dried oregano, crushed red pepper and the tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste until it has browned slightly and evenly coated the meat and onions, 3-4 minutes.

4.     Add in the diced tomatoes, bay leaves and chicken broth, then turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes.

5.     Crank the heat back up to medium-high and bring to a boil before adding the pasta. Cook until al dente according to the package directions (probably 8-10 minutes).

6.     While the pasta is cooking, mix the ricotta, parmesan and pepper together in a little bowl.

7.     Once the pasta is al dente, spoon a little of the ricotta mixture in each serving bowl, then ladle the soup over. Sprinkle with chopped basil and the shredded mozzarella.

1.      *Note: if you’re not eating all of the soup right away, you might want to cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl when you serve it so the noodles don’t soak up too much of the broth. Pasta will keep absorbing liquid as long as it’s available, so you’ll find that the leftovers the next day will have turned into more pasta than soup.

SOURCE: http://tiphero.com