My Soul is Fed by Needle and Thread

I am sad for any woman who doesn’t have a group of quilting friends. Oh, how I love being with my quilt group every Wednesday! We visit and stitch and counsel with each other about life, about our families, about food and current events, and about our quilting projects. We fill each others’ souls with goodness and cheer. I am grateful for these women.

We also have really good food. Today’s soup was five star. Here’s the recipe:

Spicy Lasagna Soup – Ann Takasaki

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
chopped zucchini and yellow squash
8 ounce fresh mushrooms, sliced (I added mushrooms to original recipe)
6 cloves garlic, chopped (or use a garlic press)
1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or spicy depending on preference)
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use less if you don’t like the soup to be spicy)
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used cooking white wine)
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (28 ounce) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup cream
1 cup shredded Fontina cheese (recipe calls for Provolone, but it does not melt well, so I use Fontina)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
8-10 lasagna noodles, broken in pieces (I use bowtie pasta)

Sauté sausage in olive oil until no longer pink. (don’t over cook.) Add chopped garlic part way through cooking sausage. In separate pot sauté onion, celery, and red pepper in butter. (I like vegetables al dente so I cook them separately. I sautéed the mushrooms in another separate frying pan.) Drain sausage and add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and thyme. Simmer 10 minutes. Add grated cheese slowly, stirring to allow cheese to melt completely. Stir in chicken broth and cream. Transfer onion, celery, red pepper, and mushrooms (with cooking liquid) to soup pot. Meanwhile, cook pasta in separate pot until al dente. Drain. Add pasta to soup pot.

To serve, shred fresh Parmesan cheese on top.

Note: I like to make the soup the day before allowing the flavors to blend. However, I cook the pasta the next day and add it to the soup before serving.