Hunk of Meat Monday: Lasagna Soup

March 11, 2013

I don’t know if it was the cold weather or all the cheese or the cold, rainy weather. Either way, this lasagna soup was a welcome sight at supper time.

Begin with two pounds of Italian sausage. I had ground pork, so I add seasonings to the pork to make it Italian.

Brown pork till it is no longer pink. Then return the pork to the pan. Add a finely chopped onion along with four cloves of minced garlic.

Continue to saute the meat and onions for about five minutes or onions are soft and translucent. If you have a large amount of grease, drain most of it off, but do not rinse the meat. Then add tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and Italian herbs.

Saute for another few minutes getting tomato paste Incorporated into the meat. Then add two 14.5 ounce cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes.

Pour six cups of chicken stock into the tomato and meat mixture and bring to a boil.

Once it begins to boil, turn down and simmer for 30 minutes covered, stirring occasionally. Then it is pasta time.

Add 8 ounces of mafalda or campanelle or another kind of pasta that will catch all the flavors of the soup.

Cook the pasta for a minute or two less than package direction to get the pasta to just al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste while the pasta is cooking as well. While the pasta is cooking prep your cheesy goodness.

Mix together a cup of ricotta with a 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Add some fresh cracked pepper and mix together. Add a dollop of the cheese mixture to each bowl and then pour the soup over top. If you are cheese obsessed, sprinkle some shredded mozzarella over top.

Lasagna Soup

A great soup to enjoy all the flavor layers of lasagna without all the work and bake time. It is hearty and rich and will fill you up on a cold, dreary day.

Ingredients

Soup

2 pounds of ground Italian pork sausage
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried Italian herb mix
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or campenelle pasta
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cheesy Goodness

1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Soup

Brown pork sausage till no longer pink, breaking apart while it cooks.
Add onions and garlic, cook until softened.
Add tomato paste, Italian herbs and red pepper flakes. Cook for another minute or two, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.
Add diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Stir occasionally.
Season with salt and pepper. 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.

Cheesy Goodness

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, and pepper.
To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, ladle the hot soup over the cheese, and sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top.

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With the rain drizzling down this morning, it would be a good soup for today. Link up your favorite meal from this week.