Lasagne-inspired soup
I love lasagne, but honestly I can't be bothered making it often, because who has the time?
So a few years ago, I created this lasagne-inspired soup instead.
This bowl of herby, pasta-y goodness is topped with a layer of cheesy sauce, then thrown under the grill to get lovely and oozy. The resulting soup has all the elements of the dish we love, yet is simple enough to throw together after a long day at work.
Don't be put off by the cook time for this one. You only need to do a little chopping, sautéing, and stirring, and the rest of the time the soup can be left to simmer away on the stove while you relax.
If you can't be bothered making a cheese sauce, just top the bowls with grated cheese instead.
- 15 ml olive oil (approximately, a generous glug)
- 135 g onion (finely diced, I used two medium onions)
- 135 g celery stalks (finely diced, I used two stalks, leaves and all)
- 135 g carrots (finely diced, I used two medium carrots)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 15 ml olive oil (approximately, a generous glug)
- 300 g mince (beef, pork, chicken or substitute with a drained and rinsed tin of lentils, or diced sauteed zucchini/eggplant)
- 100 g tomato paste (approximately 3 generous tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon basil (dried)
- 1 teaspoon oregano (dried)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced, or use one heaped teaspoon)
- 680 g tomato passata (one large jar 680-700g, or use additional tinned tomatoes)
- 1 litre stock (vegetable, chicken or beef)
- 1 teaspoon stock powder (vegetable, chicken or beef)
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 400 g tinned tomatoes (I used crushed sieved Italian tomatoes, but use what you have!)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (to taste - you may prefer more or less)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional, this balances out the acidity from the tomatoes)
- 170 g lasagne sheets (smallish, dried)
- 60 g butter
- 40 g plain flour
- 500 ml milk
- 150 g cheese (grated)
- 40 g cheese (grated, for sprinkling on top)
- Small pinch salt
- Small pinch black pepper (freshly ground)
- Small bunch parsley (fresh, chopped, option)
- 1
In a large saucepan, warm half of the oil over a medium heat, then add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté until softened (approximately 5 minutes.)
- 2
Remove the sautéed vegetables to a separate bowl and heat the remaining oil in the same pan, over a medium heat.- 3
Add the mince and cook until crumbled and browned. If you are not using meat, at this point you would sauté your zucchini/eggplant until beautifully softened.- 4
Add the sauéed onions, carrots and celery back into the pot, along with the tomato paste and garlic, and allow to cook for another minute or two.- 5
Stir in the basil and oregano and cook for another minute or two.- 6
Add the passata, tinned tomatoes, lentils (if using,) stock, stock powder and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
- 7
Simmer uncovered for approximately 30 minutes, or until the soup has reduced slightly and is smelling wonderful.- 8
Stir through brown sugar (to taste,) balsamic and butter (if using,) and taste for seasoning. Remove the bay leaves from the soup.
- 9
Add the dried lasagne sheets into the soup and simmer until these are cooked through. While the pasta cooks, prepare the cheese sauce,Cheese sauce- 10
- 11
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then whisk or stir in the flour until well combined.- 12
Cook for approximately one minute, until frothy.- 13
Gradually whisk or stir in the milk, and keep stirring until the sauce boils and thickens.- 14
Stir in the first measure of cheese, then allow to cook for an additional two minutes or so, until the cheese has melted.To assemble- 15
- 16
Ladle the soup into oven-proof bowls (if you will be grilling the top, otherwise any bowls will work.) The soup makes 4-6 servings, depending on your serving size.- 17
Top each bowl with a generous pour of the cheese sauce and an extra handful of grated cheese.- 18
Grill for approximately 5 minutes until the cheese on top is lovely and melty, and just browned.
- 19
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh parsley (if using,) and serve.
- 20
If you have grilled the tops, the bowls will be very hot, so you may need bowl huggers, or clean tea towels to hold the bowls!- 21
Enjoy xDinner, Soup, Tomato, Lasagne, Lasagna - 2
