Lasagna Soup

In the pot this soup looks like a normal vegetable and broth soup. Once you dish it up on top of the cheeses it turns slightly creamy and absolutely beautiful. There are wonderful layers of flavor in this surprisingly hearty lasgana soup.
The work time for this recipe, like many soups, is not too long but the simmering time means you don't have to prepare it immediately before dinner. The slightly longer list of ingredients might be intimidating but since many of the ingredients are spices they don't create a lot of work.

Lasagna Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb Italian sausage
1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced (not pictured)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 T tomato sauce
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 cup uncooked pasta
1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:
   1.  In a skillet, cook Italian sausage until no longer pink. Drain fat.
   2.  In a large stock pot, saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic powder, oregano, Italian seasoning, red peppers flakes and tomato sauce. Cook 2 minutes.
   3.  Add cooked Italian sausage, tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
   4.  Add pasta; bring back to a boil on medium heat until pasta is tender, about 7-8 minutes. After five minutes add spinach and basil. Remove bay leaves.
   5.  To serve put 1/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 T Parmesan cheese and 2 T shredded cheese in each bowl. Ladle soup on top. [When we had this as leftovers it worked well to warm up the soup then put the cheeses on top and stir them in.]

Adapted from: Our Simple Life

Toscana Soup

Whenever we go to Olive Garden I always choose a salad. My husband, on the other hand, always chooses soup. He used to order the Zuppa Toscana but no longer! He's decided that this homemade Toscana Soup is so good he doesn't need to get it when we go out anymore.

This is a fairly easy meal to put together and because of the simmering time it doesn't have to be made right before dinner. It can have a fair amount of kick to it so be mindful as you add the seasonings.

Toscana Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients
5 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 medium russet potatoes, unpeeled & chopped
4 cups chopped spinach
1 lb Italian sausage
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I don't like things too spicy so I use a scant 1/8 tsp.)

Directions
   1.  Cook sausage until done. Wash and chop potatoes. Roughly chop spinach.
   2.  Combine chicken stock and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, potatoes, spinach and seasonings.
   3.  Let simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.

This is linked to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods.