Lightened Up Lasagna Soup

Lightened Up Lasagna Soup

I will never tire of this soup. In fact, I think I've eaten it for the past five days and I am still lovin' it!

I made Lasagna Soup a long while back after seeing it on a blog called My Bizzy Kitchen.  I think even when I made it the first time, I did my own spin on the recipe, using leftover bits of this and that from my kitchen cupboards or refrigerator.  The original recipe I tried called for Italian pork sausage, canned tomatoes (I think), and broken up pieces of pasta. This time around, I used Italian seasoned ground turkey, jarred pasta sause, and whole grain pasta.  I am trying to lighten up the recipe a bit.

Lightened Up Lasagna Soup

For the soup:
1 jar (24 ounces) jarred tomato pasta sauce (I used Bertolli Organic Traditional Tomato & Basil)

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 can (14.5 ounce size) chicken broth
1 package Jennie-O Italian Seasoned ground turkey
a heaping 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
a heaping 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
a heaping 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf (optional)

a few pinches of granulated sugar

a few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

salt to taste

6 to 8 ounces of dried pasta (I used Barilla brand whole grain rotini pasta)

For the "cheesy goodness" which is what TOTALLY makes the soup amazingly wonderful:
7 to 8 ounces ricotta cheese (I used a low fat/part skim, Friggo brand)
2 to 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (I used KRAFT brand)
a generous pinch of salt
a few grinds of black pepper.

In a soup pot, cook and crumble the ground turkey until cooked through.  Drain if needed/desired. Add in the remainder of the SOUP ingredients except for the pasta.  Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, and allow to gently simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.  I used whole grain rotini pasta, but you can use any pasta you have on hand, even broken up lasagna or spaghetti noodles.  Medium sized pasta such as rotini, ditalini (small tubes), small bow ties, medium shells, etc. are good.  Think bite sized pasta.  Drain the pasta and spread out on a cookie tray or platter to cool.  If desired, drizzle a little olive oil on the pasta to keep it from sticking together. I skipped this to save on calories.

In a small bowl, make up the "cheesy goodness".  Combine the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; stir well with a fork to combine.

Check soup for seasoning; add in a bit more salt, pepper, and/or granulated sugar if needed.

To serve, place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the "cheesy goodness" in a soup bowl.  Add in some of the  cooked pasta and cover with hot soup. Stir in the cheesy goodness and enjoy!

I stored my soup, pasta, and cheesy goodness in the refrigerator in separate containers to keep the pasta from absorbing all of the soup liquid.  I added the cheesy goodness and pasta to each individual portion of warmed up soup. 

This recipe makes five very big servings. Next time, I will portion this up into six servings.

We find the Bertolli sauce at Sam's Club in a three-pack and it's much cheaper than in the grocery store.

We find the Barilla Pasta and a lot of Jenni-O products at Kroger (City Market).

I hope you give this recipe a try.