Lasagna Soup

Lasagna soup

I found a recipe titled "lasagna soup", read it, and knew I could make it WAY, WAY, better. This is authentic Italian lasagna soup, not some bastardized American version that has no flavor. If you want the real thing, this is the recipe for you. It will drop jaws, raise noses and get you kisses, I promise!

- 7 cups of water
- 1 T beef consume (condensed form of beef broth)*
- 3 cans organic diced tomatoes(14 oz)
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- Half of a large yellow onion
- Half a cup of carrots
- 10 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 T dried basil
- 3 T dried oregano
- 1/4 t dried red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pound lean, organic, ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups Portabella mushroom pasta sauce (muir glen) or pasta sauce of choice
- 1/2 an eggplant, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 cups dried pasta noodles of choice (spiral shapes look the best)
- 1 cup Ricotta cheese **
- grated Pecorino Romano or Mozzarella (optional)

Heat oil in a large stock pot. Chop garlic, onion, and carrots in food processor or by hand, then sauté a few minutes. Add basil, oregano & red pepper flakes. Add beef, cook until about half way, then add water, consume, pasta sauce, tomatoes and bring to a boil. [Optional to puree the sauce a little with a hand blender, but it is not necessary, especially if you like it a little more chunky.] Once boiling add tomato paste, and pasta. Cook 8 min; check pasta tenderness. If just about done, add eggplant. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes. Stir often and check tenderness of pasta & eggplant until cooked through.

Serve in bowls. Top with crumbled ricotta and/ or fresh grated cheese.

I don't use broken pieces of lasagna noodles, because noodles look so much more uniform and inviting!

* I always use beef, vegetable & chicken consume. The brand I prefer is "Better than Bouillon" - see this Link . It is much more cost efficient, and it is available organic! Win, win!

** I make my own Ricotta, because it tastes about 100 times better than the store bought stuff. If you are fortunate enough to live in a city with a lot of Italians, you can find good Ricotta. Otherwise, you will only be able to find the mediocre kind, with lots of whey in it. Despite what you'd think, Ricotta is super easy to make. There are many recipes on Pinterest. This is the one I usually use:  Homemade Ricotta

Mangia! Mangia!