There is something comfy and cozy about lasagna with crusty garlic bread. This soup gives a similar flavor profile with less calories. I made this in the crockpot but it can just as easily be made on the stovetop.

(It’s been a while since I could find some quiet space to write and this morning I found this treasure hanging out in my drafts. Even though it’s going to be a warm and toasty spring day… I just had to share it to have in my future dinner pocket.)

Let’s Get Crafty!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground beef or sausage, browned and drained
1/2 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes, pureed
1 small can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
4 cups beef broth
2 cups water
6 oz can of tomato paste, optional
3/4 cup heavy cream
16 oz box of pasta of your choice (we did bowtie but broken up lasagna noodles would be awesome)
Parmesan and ricotta topping, optional

Put all the ingredients on the list up through water into the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours for the flavors to develop together. There’s something extra special about a slow simmered sauce.

Give it a quick taste and if you would like a deeper tomato flavor, take some of the soup broth in the crockpot and whisk in the tomato paste to help it easily melt into the rest of the soup.

If you would like to cook the pasta in the soup, add it now and switch the slow cooker to simmer until the pasta is cooked. It can also be cooked separately and added to the soup.

When the pasta is fully cooked or added to the soup, take some of the liquid to put in a bowl and add in the heavy cream to temper it before adding to the slow cooker. This helps the heavy cream to warm up gradually and prevent curdling.

Add to the soup, stir and give it a few minutes to combine flavors.

Serve with parmesan and/or ricotta on top. We served ours with super easy garlic bread.

Thanks for stopping by and whoohoo for soup season! (This was originally made in January and our winter was pretty mild so we didn’t have a lot of cold days but this will be the perfect soup to make next time we do!)

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great day.