During the pandemic one of my friends introduced me to the Lasagna Love charity. It's a organization where people volunteer to cook meals for people in need. It's not just there for people that are struggling financially, though it is there for them, but it's also there to just help people get a break in life. Sometimes you need help getting a good home cooked meal because life gets busy, this charity helps those people as well. An added bonus of me contributing to this great charity is that I was playing around with various types of lasagnas for it. I decided that I wanted to make a soup that imitated a baked lasagna.
I added a couple of steps to this soup that are unnecessary to do for the final product, though they do contribute to the whole concept of a baked lasagna into soup form. The Parmesan tuiles and the toasted pasta are a nice addition, but this soup stands alone without them. Essentially for this soup I made a rich cheesy tomato soup with Italian sausage and roasted mushrooms. To bring the pasta part of it, as well as the ricotta, I did two things. First I made ricotta gnudi to give the soup that delicate ricotta flavor, and secondly I toasted some farfalle pasta to mimic the crispy pasta edges of a lasagna. Both of these contributed to the concept of the lasagna, but the toasted pasta was an unnecessary step. Because the gnudi is already a pasta, it's a little bit overkill to have both in there. The farfalle does bring a nice nutty flavor of baked pasta to the dish, but you can omit that step and have a wonderful soup.
The last addition I made to mimic a baked lasagna was the addition of Parmesan tuiles to garnish. Once again, though this did result in the texture and flavor I was looking for, they don't hold as well for soup as they would in a salad or a garnish on mashed potatoes.
If you make this soup exactly like the one I have listed here, you will have a unique, baked lasagna soup to eat. If you omit the tuile and the toasted pasta, you will have a very nice sausage, mushroom & gnudi soup to eat.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
Mild Italian Sausage 1 1/2 lbs
Hot Italian Sausage 1 1/2 lbs
Onions, sliced 2 ea
Tomatoes, canned 32 oz
Tomato Paste 1 T
Chicken Stock 1 qt
Water 1 qt
Rondele* 2 ea (13 oz)
Mushrooms, criminis, sliced 24 oz
Spinach, frozen 16 oz
Garlic 1 bulb
Farfalle Pasta, toasted 10 ea per soup
Ricotta Gnudi 6-8 ea per soup
Avenue Spice 1 T
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Crushed Red Pepper 2 tsp**
* Rondele is a brand name for a soft herb cheese spread, you can also use boursin, or any other soft cheese including ricotta
** more if you like spicier
Garnish
Parmesan Tuiles
Method of Procedure
Blanch your farfalle pasta then cool. Toss with some extra virgin olive oil and toast until golden. Cool and set aside until the end.
Make your gnudi, and blanch. Set aside until the end.
Thaw your spinach and squeeze our the excess water, reserve for later.
Start your soup by searing your ground Italian sausage, crushed red pepper, garlic, and onions in your pot. Cook while stirring to break up the meat and cook through.
Add your mushrooms and continue to cook while stirring to cook down the mushrooms.
Once the mushrooms have cooked down add your Avenue spice and tomatoes.
Put in your water and stock and bring to a simmer.
In a seperate bowl take your rondele (or similar spreadable cheese) and temper in your hot soup broth.
Add your cheese sauce back into your soup and bring back up to a simmer.
Add your spinach and season to taste.
To serve your soup take your gnudi and sear. Add your farfalle and ladle your soup into the pan. Season to taste and garnish with tuiles.
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