Lasagna Soup

 I've wanted to make this recipe for lasagna soup for awhile. Today's cold rainy weather was the perfect excuse to experiment with the recipe. I did substitute Italian sausage for the ground beef and I also left out or altered some of the ingredients.  I boiled the lasagna noodles in a separate pot before adding to the soup....but I think next time I will just boil the noodles in the same pot with the sausage, tomatoes and broth mixture. That would mean less dishes to wash and I think it would still taste great! Overall our entire family loved the soup.  We all agreed that the ricotta cheese and mozzarella mixture made the soup extra yummy!!! We are adding this recipe to the "make again" file!! 

Lasagna Soup

adapted from Cooking Classy

12 lasagna noodles, broken into bite-sized pieces

1 package (1 pound) Mild Italian Sausage

1 onion, diced

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can Petite Diced Tomatoes

1 (14.5 oz) can Crushed Tomatoes

3 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp sugar

1 (32 oz.) box of chicken broth

1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

8 oz. ricotta cheese

Parsley, fresh or dried (optional)

In a large pot, boil 12 broken lasagna noodles until tender.  In a separate large soup pot, cook Italian sausage, diced onion and garlic   until done; about 10 minutes.  Add basil, oregano, thyme, sugar, canned tomatoes, tomato paste and broth to the sausage mixture. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat for at least 10 minutes. When noodles are tender........reserve 1/2 cup to 1 cup of pasta water before draining noodles. Stir the noodles and reserved pasta water (1/2 to 1 cup) into the large soup pot with the sausage and tomato soup.  In a small mixing bowl, mix together mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and ricotta cheese.  Ladle soup into bowls and then add a large dollop of the cheese mixture. Sprinkle either fresh or dried parsley flakes on top.