Lasagna Soup

Lasagna Soup
Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings


Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 24 oz. jar tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Basil Marinara)
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 14 oz. can can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 10 uncooked lasagna noodles broken into approx. 1-2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 bunch fresh basil, chiffonade
• grated Parmesan cheese 
  

Method

1. Heat soup pot over medium/high heat and thoroughly brown the ground beef and onions. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper half-way through the browning process.
2. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, and the noodles. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the lasagna noodles are perfectly al dente.
3. Stir in heavy cream and basil. Garnish with generous amounts of Parmesan cheese.

Tomorrow is soup night at my preschool and I completely forgot about it until tonight. Cue the frantic Pinterest searching for a kid-friendly soup to bring to the potluck. What better soup than one that sounds like a 2-year-old made it up while cooking in their pretend kitchen? I've seen recipes for "lasagna soup" all over the place on Pinterest, and to be honest, the first image that comes to mind isn't incredibly appealing. Soggy, watery, too-much-sauce lasagna? Well I finally tried it and that couldn't be further form the truth. This soup was incredibly easy to make and had a surprising depth of flavor for something that cooked in such a short amount of time. Plus, the entire thing is made with one pot so you hardly have any dishes (I'm recognizing a theme in my recipes so far: tastes more complicated than it is to make, minimal dishes). I was worried that the lasagna pieces would be too big, but when they are al dente they are easy to cut with your spoon, and I love the rustic appeal of giant noodle soup. Just be careful when you're snapping the noodle sheets, I almost put an eye out! In short, this recipe delivered everything that it promised. This was a soup, and yes, it did taste like lasagna!