Lasagna Soup

I made this for dinner last night and was really looking forward to it.  Yesterday ended up being such a dreary day with overcast skies and a misty rain, so it was perfect soup weather.  This soup had all the goodness of lasagna, but with a much faster prep and cook time!  The broth was so wonderfully flavorful that I ended up not even needing to add any salt to it.  Even though the cooking time is rather short, the soup tastes like you've been simmering it all day.

If you're not feeding a crowd, then you'll probably have a lot of leftovers, which is why you don't want to add the noodles to the soup.  The noodles will continue to soak up the broth and retain a mushy texture.  I only cooked 4 oz of noodles and made a half recipe of the cheese mixture (rather than the full amounts that the recipe calls for) because I anticipated we'd have leftovers.  I froze the soup leftovers to eat at a later time, at which point I'll mix up additional cheesy goodness and cook more noodles.


Lasagna Soup
adapted from A Farmgirl's Dabbles

for the soup:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 lb Italian seasoned ground turkey
12 white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 14-oz fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
2 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
8 oz. fusilli pasta
salt and pepper, to taste

for the cheesy goodness:
8 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
2 pinches ground nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste

for garnish:
8-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil.  Once oil is heated, add turkey, onions and mushrooms and cook until turkey is browned.  Add oregano, fennel, rosemary, red pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to one minute.  Add one can of diced tomatoes.  Using an immersion blender (or food processor or stand blender), puree the second can of tomatoes.  Stir into the soup.  Add chicken broth and spinach.  Simmer, covered, for 20 - 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pot, cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well.

To serve, place a generous dollop of the cheese mixture in the bottom of each bowl.  Top with a scoop of noodles and pour soup over noodles.  Sprinkle with parmesan and chopped basil.