Don’t you just love Pinterest? Anytime I need a healthy new idea for dinner, I can click over and find something simply perfect – and, a lot of other ideas that I put on my massive “Pinterest To Do List.” I bet you have an aspiring Pinterest list, too. Often I start feeling overwhelmed and “Pinterest Depressed” because I can’t seem to get through my list and on top of everything – my premenopausal hormones start taunting me with the “loser chant.” But, all I have to do is go to Pinterest and search the words “overwhelmed and depressed” and magically a solution appears. Last week, I meditated my way out of “Pinterest Depression.”
Anyway, not sure why I got off on a Pinterest tandem other than that this is how I originally found today’s recipe – which I made on Monday and turned it into three different delicious, healthy soups that lasted our family throughout the week. This soup is full of whole, plant-based ingredients. The process of making this recipe is actually kind of a funny story. It started out as vegetarian lasagna soup that was way too spicy to a lasagna-beef-ravioli soup that was just perfect. And, the perfect part about it was that nobody in my household complained about eating it several nights in a row.
If you pull up the recipe, at the bottom I chronicle the soup’s daily transformation. I wish all recipes had this kind of “recipe potential” because maybe I’d have time to tackle some of those cool Pinterest “pins” I have on my list.
Other than sharing my “stone lasagna soup,” with you all – I want to wish everyone a wonderful Memorial Day!
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups brown mushrooms, sliced
- 2 zucchinis, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dried basil or 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 12 ounces lasagna noodles
- 4 cups fresh spinach leaves
- For the ricotta cheese topping
- 1 8 ounce container ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped
- Kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the onion, brown mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper to the liner of a 6 quart slow cooker, I use this one. Set the slow cooker on low and cook for 7 hours or on high and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
- Once the cooking time is done, cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions, drain and rinse and add to the soup. Cut them into smaller pieces if you'd like. Add the spinach and warm until wilted then ladle into soup bowls and top with a dollop of the ricotta cheese topping.
- For the ricotta cheese topping
- Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Stephanie's "stone soup" transformation: My family thought the soup was too spicy, plus I thought the soup could last longer by adding more liquid. So, I added another can of tomato sauce and three more cups of broth (I added chicken broth). To please my husband's fondness for meat, I split off 3/4 of the soup and added organic fresh, ground beef (cooked fully into crumbles). As the noodles began to dwindle and I thought my family would not eat it one more day, I added fresh cooked cheese tortellini. Along the way, I added more broth as desired. As always, I strive to only use fresh, high-quality, non-processed ingredients.
Heidi Diller says
Love. Love this idea. Especially for the family members that don’t like leftovers. It’s definitely 3 meals in one. I’d probably add ground turkey and even sliced chicken breast for my protein lovers. Morningstar Farms has meat (veggie) crumbles that are vegan and taste like ground beef too.