Lasagna Soup

We love lasagna in our household, but since it is officially fall and cold here I thought I would switch it up and make it into soup! I must admit I got this idea from a post I saw on foodgawker, however I thought I would tweak it a little to better suit our taste. My husband isn't a huge fan of soup, considering he eats enough to feed a family of 4 at dinner, he says it doesn't "fill" him up. I was determined to prove him wrong with this hearty soup! I love a nice warm bowl of soup when it is chilly outside so he has no choice but to eat it once in a while :)
This isn't just any soup however, it is full of pasta, Italian sausage, a little spice and lots of gooey cheese!

Soup Ingredients:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 package Italian sausage
1 diced onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 15-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 15-oz Italian diced tomatoes
6 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1-2 tsp creole seasoning (depending on how much heat you want)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cube chicken bullion
1/2 package lasagna noodles (broken)

Topping:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. cream
1 tsp. garlic salt
Mozzarella cheese

In a large pot add olive oil and sausage, break up into small pieces and brown. Add onion and cook until softened then add garlic and wine. Cook down the wine and scrape the yummy bits from the bottom of the pot. Then add your tomato paste and cook for a minute until combined. Pulse both cans of tomatoes in a food processor just slightly to break them down a little. Add all remaining ingredients to the mixture and simmer for about 15 minutes. Then add your pasta and cook until tender. After the pasta is finished cooking turn off the heat, if you let it sit too long the noodles will become mushy. Mix ricotta, Parmesan cheese, cream and garlic salt together. Top your soup with ricotta mixture and grated mozzarella cheese...yumm!!

You cant have soup with out grilled cheese so I made these little guys too. One of the many wonderful things about having a wedding is all the fun kitchen stuff you get! I just received this beautiful thing in the mail from my uncle yesterday so I wanted to try it out.

I mean look at those little beauties getting all crispy and melty in there....and look at the finished product, how could you resist this with a steaming bowl of soup!

Hope you try this recipe out and enjoy it as much as we did!