Lasagna Soup
All the flavors of lasagna in a comforting, cozy soup with a dollop of ricotta goodness that gets melted right into the soup!
With the low temperatures settling in, I’ve been on a major soup kick lately. See, back in LA, we never really had a winter season so I was able to walk around in my flip flops throughout the year. But here in the Bay Area, I’m constantly wrapped up in sweats along with the electric blanket and a bowl of a soup to keep me warm and cozy.
And with my new home-grown basil, I just had to use it in this soup. Now, I’ve had many basil plants in the past years but somehow, Jason and I can’t seem take care of one. We either water them too much or completely neglect them!
But with my new AeroGarden ULTRA, Jason and I can manage to grow these gorgeous basil plants without being plant killers! AeroGarden is a fool-proof indoor garden, leaving you to grow plants all year long, from fresh flowers to butterhead lettuce for your salad.
All you need to do is add water and nutrients when indicated, and it even has programmable grow lights that turn on and off by itself to simulate the sun. Seriously, how easy is that? Not to mention, it’s incredibly clean too. There’s absolutely no weeds, no dirt, and no mess involved here!
So once that basil was ready for me, I set out to the kitchen to make this lasagna soup that’s been on my bucket list for at least a year now. It’s all the flavors of a lasagna in a glorious tomato-based soup!
But what makes this soup over-the-top is the ricotta center. With a simple dollop of a ricotta, Parmesan mixture and a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, these cheeses get melted right in the soup into the most amazing ooey gooey, cheesy center.
It’s a form of lasagna without all the prep work and if you ask me, the soup version is a million times better!
Check out Kitchen PLAY for more AeroGarden basil recipes!
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Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbows pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 28-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
For the ricotta mixture
- 8 ounces ricotta
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat. Add garlic, onion, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock, diced tomatoes and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in pasta.
- Serve immediately with a heaping spoonful of the ricotta mixture, sprinkled with mozzarella and basil.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by AeroGarden and Kitchen PLAY. All opinions expressed are my own.
If you pre cooked the sausage, could you put all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook that way?
Nancy, please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to the slow cooker method without further recipe testing. I recommend using your own judgement to convert this recipe to utilize a slow cooker.
LOVED this recipe!
My mouth might be watering. This looks delicious!
This looks amazing!! Question can you freeze it minus the cheese of course! I want to make the batch then freeze the rest for lunches for the kids and hubby.
I’ve actually never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I make a similar soup that freezes well if you leave out the pasta. I make just enough pasta for that night and stir the macaroni into each bowl. That way when you thaw out your leftovers you only have to make the pasta to add to it.
The cheese mixture freezes well. I spray an ice cube tray with non stick spray and freeze cheese mixture cubes. Just store them in a freezer bag when they’re solid. If the soup is hot enough you don’t even need to thaw them. Just add one right into the soup.
Made this last night for the bf, he is in love with it! Awesome soup
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This a really great recipe. I have a home for 6 mentally challenged adults and it’s a favorite. Serve with crusty rolls and a salad and you have a hearty meal!!
This was one of the best things I think I’ve ever eaten. I used ground beef and it came out wooonderfully. Great recipe!
Do you think this would be good with ground beef? I’m not a fan of sausage. Also, can chicken broth be substituted for chicken stock? If not, can I buy chicken stock at the store? I’ve only ever bought chicken broth.
Yes, ground beef would work as a great substitute. Just be sure to crumble it as it cooks. You can certainly use chicken broth but I recommend using chicken stock for optimal results. You can easily find it at the grocery store.
I just served this tonight for our poker game and it is very very good! i will make this again for sure! Everyone that ate it loved it.
I just made this fabulous lasagna soup. Loving Italian foods I just could not make it with elbow pasta. Instead, I used ” Mafalda” pasta which kind of resembles little lasagna noodles. It was so delicious! This is certainly a keeper in my recipe file!
Hi Chung-Ah,
I made the lasagna soup tonight, which was delicious and noticed the recipe doesn’t say when to add the sausage back into the pot. I added back in with the chicken stock, tomatoes etc..
Thanks for letting me know, Angela. I have updated the recipe. And you can actually keep the crumbled sausage right in the pan as you continue on with your add-ons.
I noticed it to and thats what I did also 🙂
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Hi Chung-Ah
I made this soup a couple of nights ago and I can tell you this soup is AWESOME.
The dollop of ricotta cheese was just the right touch.. Thank you.. for such great and healthly recipes and did I mention they are easy to make, but yet they look so elegant.
Very good. Thanks for posting!
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I wanted to let you know that I made this soup for our Family Christmas eve celebration. Rave reviews and recipe handed out to many. Easy and delicious. it was the star of the meal!
thanks so much
Made this tonight. I only used half the crushed red pepper and it had TONS of flavor! My husband loved it 🙂 I will definitely make it again!
What’s not to like about this recipe. I have my spoon ready! Given all the cold weather we are all having, I featured this soup on my Friday Five – Soups & Stews over @ Feed Your Soul Too – http://www.feedyoursoul2.com/2014/01/friday-five-soups-stews.html
Thank you for the feature!
I can’t grow anything for the life of me too. Everything dies on me. I clearly have black thumb. Haha! Anyway, your lasagna soup looks fabulous. We love lasagna but sometimes feel it’s a little too rich with too much cheese. This seems like just about the best compromise.