This vegetarian soup is so good you won't even miss the meat! It's perfectly hearty and totally filling and brimming with tons of fresh vegetables. Then it's finished off with a generous dollop of mixed lasagna cheeses that melt perfectly into the hot soup.
Servings: 7
Prep20minutes
Cook30minutes
Ready in: 50minutes
Ingredients
2Tbspolive oil
1medium yellow onion,chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2cupsdiced carrots(about 3 medium)
4clovesgarlic,minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
1(32 oz) cartonlow-sodium vegetable broth
1/2cupwater
2(14.5 oz) cansdiced tomatoes
2(8 oz) canstomato sauce
1(8 oz)medium zucchini,ends trimmed, chopped
1(8 oz)medium yellow squash,ends trimmed, chopped
5ozbutton mushrooms,sliced
2tspdried basil
1tspdried oregano
1/2tspeach dried thyme and rosemary(crushed)
1tspsugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8lasagna noodles (7 oz),broken into bite size pieces (see important note*)
3cups (packed)spinach (3 oz),roughly chopped
3Tbspchopped fresh parsley(optional)
Cheese mixture
1 1/4cups(5 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2cup(2 oz) finely shredded parmesan cheese
8ozricotta cheese
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
Add onion and carrot and saute until softened, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
Add in broth, water, tomatoes and tomato sauce, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil then add pasta (or boil pasta in a separate pot as listed in notes) then reduce heat to medium low.
Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally (loosen any noodles that may stick to the bottom when stirring), until pasta is tender, about 10 - 13 minutes.
Meanwhile in a mixing bowl stir together mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta while seasoning lightly with salt to taste.
Stir spinach into soup and allow to heat through until wilted (it will wilt quickly, about 30 seconds).
Serve soup warm topped with spoonfuls of the cheese mixture (just swirl it lightly into your personal serving - it will melt quickly) and sprinkle with parsley if desired.
*If you won't be serving all of this soup right away I highly recommend cooking the lasagna noodles separately. Just omit the 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of the broth. Boil the noodles in a separate pot in salted water, then add them to each individual serving. Also, leave the simmer time for the soup the same so the zucchini, squash and mushrooms soften. I recommend doing this because I've made this soup twice and after it's rested for more than 20 minutes it starts to become more like a stew and the noodles just soak up all the liquid and become soggy. It works great to cook the noodles in the soup if you are serving it right away though.