Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Close friends know why. I've had to turn my cooking talents in a different direction for a while. Now, I'm having to learn to cook entirely differently.

Tonight's menu is a good, cold night feast. It gives you all of the goodness of a lasagna with the great taste of garlic biscuits.  I ran across the recipes on two different websites and immediately thought they would make a great meal.




Lasagna Soup
2 tsp. olive oil
1 Italian sausage or ground beef
1 c. chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
1 small can tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
4 c. chicken stock (more or less, depending upon how soupy you like it.)
8 oz.rotini pasta 
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

and now for the cheezy addition:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook about three minutes, stirring constantly. Don't let it burn. Next add sausage or ground beef, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and cook until browned.  Add tomatoes, oregano, basil, chicken stock and tomato paste. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 

While soup is simmering cook pasta per package instructions. Cook until still firm. Do not over cook because you will add them to the soup and they will continue to cook. You don't want them too soggy or limp. Drain, then add to soup. Simmer on low an additional 10 minutes.

Cheezy Goodness

To prepare the cheese portion you need to combine the ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella in a bowl. 

To serve, place a dollop of the cheese in each bowl and ladle the hot soup over the cheese. Add a small portion of the Parmesan on top for decoration.

As you eat the soup stir in the cheese at the bottom and it will take on the flavor and color of the sauce in lasagna.Mmmmm. Pair this with the Parmesan garlic biscuits below and you have a scrumptious meal. 

Parmesan Garlic Biscuits
This recipe is similar to Monkey Bread. Just made differently.

rolls in pan before cooking

3 tbs. butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced or 2 tsp dried garlic
12 oz. tube refrigerated biscuits (not flaky)
2 tbs. grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:

Garlic Bread Rolls

Preheat oven to 425. Place butter and garlic in the bottom of a 9″ pie plate. Put in oven until butter melts. While butter is melting, cut each biscuit into quarters. Remove the pan from oven and arrange biscuits on top of butter mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes. Invert pie plate onto a plate and then invert that plate onto another to serve upright.