Sunday, February 15, 2009

Lasagna Soup




I realize that although I am working now, my family still needs to eat. I had made copies of several recipes that I thought D would enjoy. He picked out the Lasagna Soup to try first.

I found this recipe in the February 2009 issue of Family Fun magazine. It is originally from Meredith Deeds cookbook 300 Sensational Soups. Her son Kyle came up with the idea of turning his favorite meal, lasagna, into a soup.

I was fairly faithful to the recipe but I used chicken Italian sausage which is lower in fat than regular pork sausage and I used part-skim ricotta as usual. I also reduced the amount of onion because neither D nor B like onions very much. And since I didn't have any fresh basil so I used half a teaspoon of dried basil instead. The soup turned out so good. Here is the quote from the Family Fun magazine article: "The tomato-y broth, brimming with sausage and pasta, melts the mix of cheeses placed in each bowl before serving. A quick swirl of the spoon ensures diners will get a bit of gooey cheese inn every bite." I really can't decide if I should keep the cheese mixture separate and add it just before serving or go ahead and put the entire mixture into the soup. For now, I'm keeping them separate like the directions recommend. Apparently, I didn't read end of the recipe very well because I combined the mozzarella with the ricotta and Parmesan and put it on top of the soup rather than putting the cheese in the bowl first and soup on top as you can see from the picture. I wish I had done it the right way but, oh well, the soup tasted great to me anyway. I reduced the amount of red pepper flakes in the recipe because D thought the soup was too spicy with 1/2 teaspoon in there. I will definitely leave them out altogether next time I make this soup. Yes, there definitely WILL be a next time for this one!

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1-1/2 pounds Italian sausage (bulk or with casings removed)
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 ounces fusilli pasta
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
8 ounces ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and saute, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and saute until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

2. Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the basil. If desired, season with salt and black pepper to taste.

3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the Parmesan, the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1-1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup on top. Makes about 13 cups.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Culinary Mysteries

Yes, I started working again. I haven't been cooking creatively this week at all. We've been eating "on the fly." Instead of sharing a recipe today, I want to discuss culinary mysteries. I took D to the bookstore today to pick up an Artemis Fowl book. He is really into reading those right now. He went down the adult mystery aisle and found a book for me. It was the paperback version of "Sweet Revenge" by Diane Mott Davidson. I completely forgot that I had already read it so I bought it for myself as a Valentine's Day present. When I got it home I realized that not only had I read it but I own the hardback version. Diane is just not writing books fast enough for me. I went to her website and it is still announcing "Sweet Revenge" as coming in August 2007! Come on now, Diane. Please update your website and let us know when the next book is coming out. I have to return the paperback version of "Sweet Revenge" so I think I'm going to try a new author. I discovered an author named Joanne Fluke who has written about 13 culinary mysteries. How did I miss that?? I will probably get one of her paperbacks with my refund for Sweet Revenge. Joanne's latest two books are called The Carrot Cake Murder and the Cream Puff Murder. Both of them sound yummy to me. Joanne has recipes in her books just like Diane Mott Davidson. I posted a recipe from one of Diane's books on this website last year. It was for Unorthodox Shepherd's Pie. I love that Shepherd's Pie. It is so much fun to ready a really good mystery and get a few excellent recipes at the same time.

Does anyone else out there read culinary mysteries? Do you have any favorite authors who write culinary themed mysteries that you would recommend?

Hopefully, I'll have a good recipe to post soon. I've found several soup recipes that look really interesting. In fact, I think soup is going to be my next theme. We'll see.

Happy reading!

The Creative Cook & Son