Lasagna Soup

I was craving Lasagna but didn’t want something so heavy, so I made a lasagna soup instead. It’s all the flavors of lasagna in a bowl!

Another cold week with lots of snow in Denver and all that you want is comfort food but then you think, dang I can’t eat that. It’s January and the time that I am spending in the gym will be a waste! That’s what happened to me this week. I was craving lasagna, a big ol’ piece of Italian love. Dang the craving was there but my conscience said no until I decided that a soup would be good and lasagna soup came to be. I made this soup as healthy as I could. Tons of added vegetables, ground turkey, turkey sausage, part-skim ricotta cheese to make it decadent without adding cream and I made the pasta on the side so that I could control the portion size. It ended up being one of the best soups that I have ever made and maybe my new substitute for lasagna all together. To me, soup is love and this lasagna soup is a big dose of love!

As you have probably heard (it’s no secret) Coloradans love their beer. We were one of the first states to develop craft beers. Heck, I still remember the craft beer that I drank when I landed here on August 5, 1990. (I know weird but it was my Mom’s birthday). It was a 90 Shilling made by the Odell Brewing Company. It’s still one of my favorite beers but they have since gone mainstream (good for them) but since I am always on a quest to enjoy local small businesses, the door is wide open to experience the other 250 craft breweries on the front range! I better start drinking! Ha! Anyway, I was invited this week to try out St. Patrick’s Brewery in Old Littleton. Funny thing, I play tennis next to this brewery but have never stopped in. Big mistake! St. Patrick’s is adjacent to my favorite Creole restaurant. Lucille’s, in Denver so I’m not sure why I haven’t. What a nice surprise! Not only was the atmosphere awesome (tons of amazing artwork painted by the proprietor Chris), a beautiful fireplace, cool bar, a dance floor, the “actual” brewery, and the beer garden (we couldn’t enjoy this because it was covered in snow)! Supposedly, their beer garden was rated as one of the top 10 beer gardens in the country! That’s pretty impressive if I do say so myself. I digress… Let’s talk about their beers. Dang good stuff. First of all, I’m kinda a lager gal so St. Patrick’s is right up my alley. They specialize in lager beers but take it a step further. They take a “foodie” approach to crafting beers as they layer the flavors with seasonal ingredients that bring unexpected twists to the beer. I tasted some great beers but my favorite was their Luminosity Lager. It is a honey lager and voted as the best honey lager in the country. No wonder why I liked it! Good stuff. This week, St. Patrick’s is going to start serving Lucille’s famous food. This is a big deal because most of our breweries don’t serve food and another reason to make this brewery my new stomping ground! Make sure you stop by St. Patrick’s brewery. Totally worth it and you can thank me later! 🙂

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Lasagna Soup

All the goodness of lasagna in a soup! I used ground turkey for this recipe but you can easily make it with ground beef.

Course Main Course, Main course/ Soup, Soup

Cuisine American, Italian, Italian/American

Keyword Lasagne Soup, Lasagne Soup Recipe

Author Heather Blake

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 28-ounce can tomato sauce
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound of your favorite pasta cooked to package directions
• Parmesan cheese, for serving
• Fresh Parsley and Basil, serving

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Coat the bottom of a large stockpot with olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, and mushrooms. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, sausage, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and Italian seasoning. Cook until meat is no longer pink.
• Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth and simmer for 30 minutes. Do not boil just simmer on medium-low heat.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the ricotta and Parmesan cheese until melted.
• Place a handful (or whatever size you like) of pasta in a bowl. Ladle the soup over the pasta and top with chopped parsley, basil, and more Parmesan cheese.

Notes

My take on "pasta" soups. I prefer my pasta on the side. First of all, I can control the serving size, and second, when pasta is left in the soup it absorbs the liquid and becomes mushy. So with any soup made with pasta, I keep it separate.

If you are on a low carb/gluten-free diet you can enjoy this soup by omitting the pasta altogether or try making it with gluten-free pasta.

If you prefer to make this soup with ground beef, just cook the meat first, drain and set it aside. Add the beef back to the vegetable mix after the vegetables are cooked through and follow the remainder of the recipe.

You can’t miss St. Patrick’s. On the corner of Bowles and Santa Fe.

The beer making adventure begins here. I love that they make their beer in house!

Luminosity Lager, a tasty honey lager. Yes please, I’ll have another.

Beer humor. Dave (one of the owners) served my first beer in a “wine” glass because I am normally a wine drinker. He wanted me to feel at “home”. Funny.