You’ve had lasagna before, probably too many times to count. But lasagna soup? Now that’s a new one.
Unfortunately, I didn’t come up with it myself — there are lots of other versions out there. But isn’t it brilliant? You make a creamy tomato soup, add pieces of lasagna noodles, and top it off with cheese.
Tomato soup is often based on canned products, which I desperately wanted to avoid. That’s why the recipe you see here calls for filling your oven with halved tomatoes, and then roasting them until they look like that picture up there. The oven does all the work for you, coaxing out those deep tomato flavors like only an oven can.
The best way to serve this soup is in ramekins (mine are 7 ounces), since that allows you to give each portion its own cheesy topping. If your family isn’t used to ramekins, you might want to give them a quick lesson on not touching a fresh-from-the-oven dish, even if it does go right on your plate.
Safety first, you know. Safety first, supper second.
Speaking of which: best Shavuos soup ever. Your kids are going to have a party. And the adults won’t be any less excited.
Lasagna soup
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 head of garlic
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 6 lbs. (about 18) tomatoes, cored, halved, and seeded
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups prepared marinara sauce
- 4 cups hot water
- 2 Tbsp onion soup mix
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
- ½ cup whole milk
Directions
1. Position oven rack in the top third of the oven and preheat to 400 F/200 C. Grease two 9″ x 13″ dishes with cooking spray.
2. Slice off the top of the garlic and discard. Drizzle olive oil over the exposed cloves and wrap in aluminum foil. Place the garlic packet in one of the dishes. Place the prepared tomato halves face-up in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 1 hour.
3. Transfer the garlic cloves and half the tomatoes to a food processor fitted with the knife blade. Add half the marinara sauce and process until smooth.
4. Dissolve onion soup mix in the hot water and add half of it to the processor. Pulse briefly to combine with the tomato mixture, then strain the whole thing to remove any lingering tomato skins and seeds. Repeat with the rest of the tomatoes, marinara, and water/soup mix. (With a 5-cup processor, I did this in two batches as described. If you have a larger machine, you may be able to do it all at once.)
5. Transfer strained soup to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add broken noodles and mozzarella and cook uncovered over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes (the noodles tend to stick to the bottom of the pot). Turn off the heat, add the milk, and stir once more.
6. Ladle soup into 7-oz. ramekins and top with a few spoonfuls of cheese. Place the filled ramekins inside a baking dish and pop them in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
