Cooking 2011/10 of 12/Lasagna Soup

This week I made Lasagna Soup for the first time.  I don't know why I had not thought of it before.  It has most of the things I love in one convenient location:  Soup, Noodles, Tomatoes, Cheese.  Granted a lot of soup consists of these ingredients but this one deserves a place on the list because it is awesome.

Lasagna Soup: Slightly modified from A Farm Girl's Dabbles


for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
3/4 lbs. Hot Italian sausage
3/4 lbs. Mild Italian Sausage
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
4 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
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

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 and oregano. 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. Stir in 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.