Lasagna Soup!

  

 

This soup is one that I came up with one night when I wanted lasagna, but I didn't want to wait a couple of hours to eat.  It was also really cold outside and I sort of just wanted some soup so I took my ingredients that I had been intending to make lasagna with and turned them into lasagna soup.  It's much quicker to prepare than lasagna and it's a little lighter on the calories, but those lasagna flavors are all there.   Here is what you will need:

1 lb. ground chuck (you can use Italian sausage if you prefer)
1 cup onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 Tbs. garlic, minced
3 beef bouillon cubes
6 cups water
1 (26 oz.)  jar spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce ( I prefer the Ragu Sun Dried Tomato Sweet Basil)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes (I like the seasoned ones with garlic and basil)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed fennel seed (optional, some don't care for fennel)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, crushed (optional, leave it out if you don't care for the heat)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried parsley
8 oz. mini lasagna pasta or technically it's called mulfalda (this can be hard to find so you can use broken lasagna noodles or even rotini or bow ties would work)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, divided

Brown ground chuck or Italian sausage along with the onion, green pepper, and minced garlic. Add all other ingredients except the pasta and cheeses.  Bring to a boil and then turn it down to low and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Stir in the uncooked pasta and 1 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan or Asiago cheese, simmer until pasta is tender and the cheeses are melted...about 10 - 15 minutes more. Stir from the bottom to be sure the cheese doesn't stick and melts through out the soup! 

 



Sprinkle each bowl with additional cheese and a little parsley and serve with hot bread sticks!

Lasagna Soup!