Lean Lasagna Soup

If you’re like me and are typically cooking for a party of 1 or 2 you’re probably not breaking out the lasagna pan and making a full blown 8 layer lasagna on the reg-or maybe you are and for that I applaud you... but for the rest of us, that lasagna craving still hits every now and then. I have the perfect recipe that’ll satisfy that craving in an easy, inexpensive and creative way and in 30 minutes or less!

This cozy one pot marvel is the best of both worlds. With all the filling delicious aspects of a homemade lasagna and the ease and simplicity of a soup, it’s sure to make its way into your dinner rotation soon. I love lasagna but just thinking about the prep, layering and cook time of a typical lasagna exhausts me. This soup has an actual cook time of 2 minutes and will be on the table in a half hour flat!

Try it with Mafalda noodles and full size lasagna noodles and see which you prefer! The image above shows #SanMarzano Mafalda noodles.

The first time I made this recipe I used ground Italian sausage and full sized lasagna noodles that I broke in half before adding. I found that the big noodles were a hit with some but others found it annoying to break them up while eating. So I changed it up slightly after a recommendation from my boyfriend's mom to use Mafalda noodles (the image on the right shows what these noodles look like). You can see that these guys are basically bite size lasagna noodles, perfect!

I found that these noodles cook a bit faster then their big brother so I’d only let it release naturally for 5 minutes with the little guys. While I preferred the bite size Mafalda noodles, my boyfriend preferred the thicker lasagna noodles. Try it both ways and see which you prefer. You can’t go wrong!

I also opted for Italian turkey sausage links instead of regular ground sausage. This added an extra step in order to remove the casings on the sausages but it resulted in a much leaner soup as turkey sausage has less fat than regular sausage. The images above demonstrate how I sliced open the turkey sausages, removed the casings and broke up the sausage into bite sized pieces in the #instantpot.

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Lean Lasagna Soup

6-8 servings | 30 minutes

Notes: see above for removing casings on sausages or additional information on lasagna noodles vs Mafalda noodles.

Ingredients:

This meal is perfect paired with a fresh garden salad, a warm and crusty slice of bread and a big ole glass of red!

• 4 oz lasagna noodles broken in half or 4 oz mafalda noodles

• 1/2 tbsp italian seasoning

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1 bay leaf

• 15 oz no salt tomato sauce

• 15 oz diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic

• 1 onion, chopped (~200g)

• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (~200g)

• 1 large carrot, chopped (~100g)

• 1 lg zucchini, quartered and chopped (~200g)

• 1 lb ground Italian turkey or chicken sausage (if in casings remove casing or pulse in a food processor)

• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth

• 1 cup water

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tbsp freshly chopped basil

The cheese toppings are really up to you! Personally I forgo the mozzarella sometimes and opt for just a classic dollop of cool ricotta.

For topping:

• 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

• 1/2 cup ricotta

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

• 1/2 cup mozzarella

Directions:

1. Chop all of your vegetables and set aside.

2. If sausage is in a casing, use a knife to slice open the casings of the sausages. Then use your hands to carefully remove the casings so you're just left with the ground sausage inside. Throw away the leftover casings. If it is already ground then add as is. If sausage in links where casing can’t be removed easily, roughly pulse the sausages in a food processor until roughly chopped.

3. Heat your instant pot on brown/sauté feature. Add the sausage and use a wooden spoon to break up the meat into bite size pieces.

4. Once the meat is browned and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes, add all of the spices and veggies except the garlic and bay leaf. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

5. Stir the garlic in and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

6. Pour in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chicken broth and water. Lastly, stir in your noodles of choice and the bay leaf.

7. Close the lid of the instant pot and set to cook for 2 minutes. I have the Crockpot express cook and the lowest it can go on soup is 15 minutes so I simply set it for 0:15, let it get up to pressure and press off after 2 minutes at pressure (it will say 0:13 on the screen before I turn it off).

8. While the instant pot comes to pressure, combine ricotta, grated parmesan and fresh basil in a bowl.

9. Allow the instant pot to release naturally for 5-10 minutes depending on how soft you want the noodles. After 5-10 minutes, carefully release the pressure on the instant pot. Note: If using Mafalda noodles, open after 5 minutes.

10. Open the lid, remove the bay leaf and stir the soup. Stir freshly chopped basil in.

Serve this #lasagnasoup hot and topped with ricotta basil mixture and/or fresh shredded mozzarella and extra fresh basil.

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Screenshot/Printer Friendly Version:

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Nutrition facts are based on this recipe making 8 servings. They are also based on the use of mafalda noodles and turkey sausage. Nutrition facts will vary slightly if regular sausage is used in place of turkey sausage. Nutrition facts on the left include the cheese toppings and nutrition facts on the right are dairy free (do not include cheese topping).