Easy Lasagna Soup

• servings: 6 servings
• total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground Italian sausage

1 medium white onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

5 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup dry white wine

4 cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock

1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

8 ounces uncooked mafalda pasta (or your preferred shape of pasta)

fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

toppings: lots of cheese (shredded mozzarella, ricotta and/or Parmesan cheese), chopped fresh basil

Directions

Prep the pasta water

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook the sausage and veggies

Meanwhile, in a separate large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onion, bell pepper and sauté, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon as it cooks, for about 8-10 minutes or until the sausage is browned. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the broth

Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any of yummy browned bits that are stuck to the bottom. Add the stock, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaf and stir to combine.

Cook the pasta

Meanwhile, add the pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook until the pasta just nearly reaches al dente.

Simmer

Continue cooking the soup until it reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and continue cooking until the pasta is al dente. Once the pasta is ready to go, use a strainer to transfer the pasta directly to the pot of soup and stir to combine.

Season

Taste and season the soup with salt and pepper as needed, plus extra Italian seasoning or crushed red pepper flakes if desired.

Serve immediately, topped generously with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!