Italian Comfort in a Bowl

Do you ever have one of those days where you wake up fighting with your kids and then you realize that you're the one actually acting like the 3 year old? So you get up out of bed and make yourself your pot of coffee (yes, I said pot) and forget to actually put the pot back on the machine, so you start cleaning up all the coffee. Meanwhile, the doorbell rings and you quickly rub your hands in your hair and pretend all the while that you have been up and doing stuff for the past couple hours. You then notice their face when they look at you and you wonder 'hmmm, do I have a booger on my face, is my hair really that bad, are my boobs sagging worse then I thought from all the breastfeeding and I should actually wear a bra 24/7?" So you dismiss the person at the door go back up the stairs where your toddler is running naked, your 3 year old is using your toothbrush, the 6 month old is still sleeping, thankfully, and you go look in the mirror and you see the same face staring at you in the mirror as the one on the mans face at the door. It's a look of horror. Is it poop? No, it can't be I don't smell it. But I don't want to touch the inch long streak of dark brown substance on my cheek. What could this be? So then you go back in your mind about how your morning started. Oh yes, you were yelling at your child. Why, was I doing that? Oh yes, he woke me up by squashing a handful of brown play dough in my face. Is it just me?
So after this morning ordeal I have decided I need comfort food. I know that my husband is probably going to have a panic attack when he realises what I have done with a perfectly good dish to begin with. I would say one of his biggest pet peeves with cooking is when you take a recipe, like lasagna, and then vamp it to be something different. Does that make sense? Well I'm doing it again tonight! On the menu is Lasagna Soup. I have seen many different recipes for this soup but I find something missing or something that shouldn't be in it at all! So I am going to wing it and create my own version. Hope you enjoy it!

In a soup pot, brown 1 lb of ground beef or Italian Sausage if you prefer. Once browned and drained add 1 chopped onion and 2 minced garlic cloves. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Chop up 2-3 tomato's or a can of stewed tomato's, add to meat along with a handful of freshly chopped basil and parsley. If you have fresh oregano add in a small handful or else 1 Tbsp of dried. Add 1/2 tsp of dried red pepper flakes, a bay leaf, 1/2 can of tomato paste. Stir it around and let cook for 1-2 minutes

Add in 6 cups of chicken broth and let simmer on stove for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to enhance. Once it has simmered remove the bay leaf.

While soup is simmering prepare a 250gram container of ricotta cheese with 1 garlic clove minced, a handful of fresh spinach, 1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to use

Bring your soup up to a boil and add 1 cup of fusili pasta or another type of noodle of choice. Cook until noodles are el dante.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In an oven proof individual soup bowl place a scoop of ricotta cheese mixture. Add as little or as much as you would like.

Top off the bowl with the soup mixture and cover the top with fresh mozzarella cheese. Cook in oven for approx 7 minutes. Turn the oven to Broil and continue cooking until the cheese is bubbling.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my husband did!