Lasagna Soup

As I am sure you can tell, and from me just coming out and saying it, I love lasagna.  You have seen my posts about Spaghetti Squash Lasagna and Simple Lasagna so it shouldn't surprise you that I have now come up with another lasagna recipe.  This time, combining the yummy ingredients of lasagna into a soup form.  This is not the cleanest recipe, especially if you stay away from dairy, but if you omit adding the cheese mixture, you have yourself a nice, filling (and vegan) tomato pasta soup.  What is nice about this recipe is it is done in the Crockpot and is a super easy meal and an even easier clean up.  Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

Soup:
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 medium zucchini, sliced, then halved
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
6 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 package of brown rice fusilli pasta


Cheese Mix:
1 8oz tub of part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tsp parsley
1 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Combine onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste in a Crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  When soup has 2 hours left to cook, stir in pasta and allow to cook for remaining time.

While soup is cooking, combine ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, parsley and fresh basil in a medium bowl.  Mix and refrigerate until ready to use.

When soup is done, serve topped with dollop of cheese mixture.

Sunday Splurge.....Simple Lasagna

In my post about spaghetti squash lasagna, I mentioned that one of my favorite meals is lasagna.  Well tonight, my Sunday splurge was just that, lasagna!  Here is the delicious, easy recipe for those days when you want to enjoy a nice treat meal :). Enjoy!

Simple Lasagna

Ingredients 

1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 15oz container part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
3 cups pasta sauce (see my homemade recipe here)
1 cup water
12 oven ready lasagna noodles

Preheat the oven to 350*

In a medium pan, heat coconut oil on medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until tender, add pasta sauce and water. Simmer for 5 minutes.

While mushrooms and sauce is cooking, combine 1 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, ricotta, parsley, egg and salt in a medium bowl.

In a 13x9 inch baking dish, put 1 cup pasta sauce. Add 3 lasagna noodles, followed by 1/3 of cheese mixture and 1 cup pasta sauce. Repeat 2 more times. Finish with 3 noodles, remaining pasta sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes, removing foil after 45 minutes.  Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna!

One of my favorite pasta dishes is, hands down, lasagna.  The thick noodles and all the melted cheese!  Although you can't really have lasagna without cheese, you can make the dish a bit healthier by substituting the pasta noodles for spaghetti squash.  The best part about this recipe is that not only is it delicious, but you eat it right out of the squash!  Makes for a simple clean up!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Ingredients

1 large spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise, de-seeded
2 cups pasta sauce (you can make homemade with my recipe here)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus a little extra for topping
2 Tbsp Coconut oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400*.  Place cut and de-seeded spaghetti squash, cut side up in large baking dish with a little bit of water in bottom of dish. Coat cut side of squash with 1 tablespoon coconut oil and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 45-60 minutes or until inside of squash becomes tender and can easily pull apart into "noodles" with a fork.

While squash is cooking, in a medium size bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella and basil, set aside.  Heat remaining tablespoon of coconut oil in medium pan.  Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms become tender**.  Add pasta sauce and cook until sauce is heated.

When squash is done cooking and has cooled enough to handle, using a fork, gently score the inside, creating squash "noodles".

To fill the squash, divide the cheese mixture evenly on top of each half of the squash, place directly on top of the "noodles".  Next, divide the pasta sauce amongst each squash half and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Broil the squash halves on high until cheese begins to brown (make sure to keep a close eye on the squash during this final stage, as the broil setting cooks very quickly). Place entire half of squash on plate or serve onto plate and enjoy.

**it is also very easy to incorporate ground turkey into this dish by browning it with the mushrooms while the squash cooks.