La-la-la-la-la-Lasagna!

I survived my first Vegan MoFo, and I'm back for more!  Sorry for the absence for the rest of last week, but I needed some time to recover from September.  Whew! 

I needed some comfort food in my downtime, and today's recipe fits that bill to a tee:  Lasagna Soup!  This is a recipe I veganized from the Disney family website, Spoonful.  They have so many cute and fun ideas over there - if you have kids I definitely recommend checking them out, especially with Halloween coming up. I got the idea for our best Halloween costumes ever from Disney's Family Fun/Spoonful:  James was the Big Bad Wolf and the kids and I were the Three Little Pigs. And we wore them to go trick or treating in Walt Disney World!  I'm not proud, or shy.

The kids were asleep in the stroller at this point.  This is pre-gan, so please excuse my ice cream.

Okay, back to Lasagna Soup. This recipe is really yummy:  it's got all the flavor, sauciness, creaminess, and pasta-y goodness you're looking for in a lasagna, without all the work or calories.  This one is definitely going in the family Christmas Recipe Zine I've got planned.  Enjoy!

Lasagna Soup

1 package Gimme Lean sausage
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
6-8 cups veggie broth (I use water and Better Than Bouillon Not Chicken flavor)
1 - 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
8 oz. fusilli or rotini pasta (or whatever shape you like!)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil, or 1 tsp. dried basil
1 recipe of your favorite Tofu Ricotta (I used the Cashew Ricotta recipe from Veganomicon)
Vegan Parmesan for sprinkling (I used Galaxy Foods Go Veggie! grated topping, which I got in my Vegan Cuts snack box, and is delicious!)
Optional:  Vegan Mozzarella shreds

 In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the sausage and saute, breaking it up into small pieces (an old-fashioned potato masher is really good for this!) and cook until lightly browned.  Add the onions and saute another five minutes or so until softened.  Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and saute another for another minute.  Add the tomato paste and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Add the tomatoes with their juice, the veggie broth, and the bay leaves and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes (depending on how big a hurry you're in!).

Add the pasta and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Boil until the past is tender to the bite.  Discard the bay leaves and add the basil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, mix up your tofu ricotta in separate bowl. 

To serve, you can either put about 2 tablespoons of the tofu ricotta in the bottom of each serving bowl, and then ladle in some soup.  Or, you can just dollop the tofu ricotta on top of the soup.  Sprinkle with vegan parmesan and/or vegan mozzarella shreds.  I'm not a big fan of a lot of vegan cheeses, so I just went with the vegan parm.  Stir and enjoy!  We had some crusty bread on the side, and a salad would be nice, too!

All mixed up!