Lasagna Soup: Seriously once you make it you want to make it again...

Lasagna Soup: Seriously once you make it you want to make it again and again. We were at Vroman’s Book Store in Pasadena, and yes I was browsing at the cookbook section and found this great book: Love & Lemons EVERY DAY.  Yes, the Title  caught my attention. I started perusing the recipes and two immediately popped out for me to make. 

One was a  Lasagna Rolled Up recipe. Who doesn’t love Lasagna? The problem I have with it, that there are only two of us and I do not see the logic of making it because the flat panned version is great if you have an army of guests. Now with that said I have not made it in a long, long, time. What a great idea, I wish I thought of it, Lasagna Roll-Ups. Clearly, I can limit the portions. Once I made it, I realized how much I loved the idea.  

I boiled some extra pasta since I was planning on making Lasagna Soup in a couple days after it.  Although the cookbook is plant-forward recipes (vegan for those who are  the not aware of the terminology) I managed to adopt it to our carnivore taste😊. 

The foundation to this soup is clearly tomatoes. The better-quality tomatoes you get, the better the soup will taste. I always buy San Marzano cans thanks to our friend Mary who shamed me into it decades ago😊. Once you have them you will never go back to the lesser quality tomatoes in the can. 

Ingredients: 

2-3 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil 

One medium onion diced ( I prefer sweet onions, but any will do) 

3 or 4 carrots  chopped or cut  barrel style 

1 fennel bulb diced 

3-4 mushrooms chopped (if you do not like mushrooms skip it,  I like to add shitakes for flavor and texture) 

Salt to taste (I prefer chicken bouillon cubes to add salt and flavor) 

2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar 

3-4 garlic cloves minced ( some like less depending on taste) 

1 can -28 oz of Tomatoes (my choice is San Marzano) 

1 box/container of chicken stock 32 oz  

1 box/container of bone broth 16.9 oz (I like mixing the stock with bone broth if you just like stock it will be fine too) 

3-4 sprigs of thyme leaves (fresh is my preference or use a tablespoon of dried thyme) 

16 oz of fresh baby spinach 

3-4 stalks of Kale chopped 

¼ cup of fresh Italian parsley chopped 

4 lasagna noodles 

½ cup of ricotta cheese ( I add chopped parsley and chopped spinach for looks and taste) 

Cooking tips:  

Heat the oil sauté the onions, carrots, fennel and mushrooms at  a minimum 8-10 minutes. Then add garlic for a minute. Then add tomatoes and the various stock/broth and balsamic vinegar. Then add the kale and spinach. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes minimum. (The longer you simmer the flavors absorb better) 

If you  do not have Lasagna made already, this is a good time to boil some while the soup is simmering. 

Once ready serve in bowl and cut the pasta into large size and place on top of the soup, add the dollop of ricotta and some freshly chopped spinach and parsley.