Lasagna Soup

i've seen pictures of this lasagna soup popping up on the internet for the last few months, and with this cold winter weather we're having, trying a new soup recipe seemed just the ticket.  i headed over here to get a recipe and followed it almost exactly, just making some adjustments based on the comments to make for better leftovers and using a different kind of noodle so that i could use whole wheat noodles.

Lasagna Soup
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb Italian sausage
3 c onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crush red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 28-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c chicken broth
8 oz whole wheat rotini noodles
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 c parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
mozzarella cheese

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add sausage, breaking it into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 mins.  Add onion and cook until softened, about 6 mins.  Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, cook for 1 min.  Add tomato paste and mix well, cook for an additional 3-4 mins.  Add tomatoes, bay leaves and chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins.  In a separate pot, cook the noodles to al dente.  In a small bowl, mix ricotta, parmesan, salt and pepper.  When ready to serve, place a dollop of the ricotta mixture in the bottom of each bowl, top with a serving of noodles, and ladle soup on top.  Top with a pinch of mozzarella.

this was very yummy.  especially once you gave it a good stir and mixed the bottom cheese in throughout the soup.  it tasted just like lasagna in a bowl.  if you're not anticipating any leftovers, you can cook the noodles in the soup when you're simmering it for 30 mins.  you don't want to do this if you're planning on leftovers because otherwise the noodles will soak up all the broth and your leftovers will be just dry "lasagna".