One Bowl, High Fiber Lasagna Soup with Herby Ricotta Cheese
- Rachel Nissen
- Jan 3, 2025
- 4 min read
One Bowl. High Fiber. And Cheese?!? I mean, you can't say enough!
This soup is a fantastic recipe to make for a meal prep option or for an easy dinner of the week. It's one bowl, packed with fiber, and hearty yet not heavy. You know how we all hear "The longer it sits, the better it gets"? Well, this theory is true for this soup. As it sits overnight (of course in the fridge) it gets a little thicker and the noodles take in more of the saucey soup mixture it is swimming in. Do not worry though, the noodles do not get mushy, as we take into careful consideration the cooking time of the noodles.
When I filmed and made this recipe, it was for my client and they are strictly gluten-free. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that if you're not gluten-free, you don't need to use gluten-free pasta! Or, if zucchini is not your thing, don't worry, you can leave it out and replace it with a bell pepper, butternut squash, or broccoli, or leave as is without an extra vegetable. And if lentils are not your jam, try replacing them with a canned white bean, more Italian sausage, or add ground beef/turkey! Please do not skip on the herby ricotta cheese mixture though. The ricotta dollops give it that quintessential lasagna factor and give some overall lightness to the dish.
Either way you choose to make it, it will be delicious! Please do let me know if you made it and what variations you gave it, if any! You can tag me on Instagram or Facebook! Happy Facile Cooking!
One Bowl Lasagna Soup with Herby Ricotta Cheese
Recipe heavily Inspired by All The Healthy Things
From Start to Finish Time: 1 Hour
Serves: 6ish
Easily doubled: Yes!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter or oil (avocado is my favorite for cooking)
1 pound bulk Italian Sausage (pork, chicken, turkey)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, diced
2-3 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning (if you do not have on hand, you can easily do 1/2 teaspoon of each of the following: thyme, oregano, and basil for a quick version)
1/2 teaspoon of salt, to start
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 15 ounce can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 cup of dry green lentils OR 1 can of cooked lentils (See Note)
4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used vegetable broth)
1-2 zucchini, diced (1 large or 2 small)
8 ounces of your favorite pasta OR 9 sleeves of lasagna noodles broken into pieces
1/2 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese
Directions:
Add oil to a medium heat dutch oven or large soup pot and add italian sausage or ground protein of choice. Cook sausage or protein of choice until browned and cooked through. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Next add salt and Italian seasoning or individual dried herbs and stir. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Next, add the two tablespoons of tomato paste and stir until well combined. You will want to cook the tomato paste a bit until it is also fragrant, about 2 minutes. After cooking the tomato paste, add the can of crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. Stir until combined. Next add the dry green lentils (if using canned lentils, see note). Stir until combined. Add the chicken or vegetable broth and diced zucchini and stir again. Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a boil (time will depend on your stovetop, but waiting for a boil could be anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Start with 5 minutes and you can always add more time). Once the soup is boiling, turn down to a simmer and cook the lentils, for about 15 minutes (You do not want to cook lentils all the way through, as we will add the pasta and that will add more time to cooking the lentils). After 15 minutes, add your pasta of choice and cook according to package but cook for about 1-2 minutes less. Your pasta will continue to cook after the designated time. If you are worried about the texture of your pasta, go ahead and cook about 4 minutes less. When you slide the pot off of the burner, it will continue to cook and should be perfectly cooked.
After cooking your pasta of choice, slide the pot off of the burner. Add the parmesan cheese and stir until very well combined. Slide the dutch oven or soup pot off the burner.
Herby Ricotta Cheese
1 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese
heaping 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
heaping 1/2 cup of shredded or grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley (See Note)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (See Note)
1/4 teaspoon of salt, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon of pepper, or more to taste
Fun additions: zest of lemon or lemon juice
To a medium-sized bowl, add ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined and the shredded cheeses look well incorporated. Add the fresh parsley and basil and season with salt and pepper. If wanting to add lemon, zest about half of a lemon or squeeze the juice from half a lemon and stir until well combined.
When ready to serve, spoon lasagna soup into a bowl and top with a hefty dollop of the herby ricotta mixture. Enjoy!
Notes:
*If using canned lentils, you will add the canned lentils after adding the zucchini and then simmer for about 5 minutes. You will then add your pasta as above. Cooked lentils do not need a lot of time to cook as we are simply just heating them up in the soup.
*If you can't get fresh herbs, simply replace them with dried herbs! Use 1/2 teaspoon of each parsley and basil.
*If you want to make the dish vegetarian, simply omit the ground sausage and use 1 pound of dried lentils or 2 cans of white beans.
*If you want to make the dish Vegan, you can omit the parmesan cheese used in the soup and use 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast or find a good quality vegan parmesan cheese. I have found VioLife makes a very good vegan parmesan! For the Herby Ricotta, replace ricotta with Kite Hill Almond Ricotta Cheese. Then use Good Plant Olive Oil Mozzarella Cheese and VioLife's parmesan cheese as a vegan substitute. I can find all these substitutes at Whole Foods and Natural Groceries.
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