Slow Cooker Sun-Dried Tomato Lasagna Soup With Whipped Pesto Cheese

When the weather is cool like it has been this past week, we love to make this lasagna soup. It's so warm and comforting! We love to serve it with breadsticks or rolls to dip into whatever tomato soup base is left. So yummy! The whipped pesto cheese really kicks it up a notch from other lasagna soups we've tried. This is what you'll need for 6 servings:

Photo byJaclyn

Sun-Dried Tomato Lasagna Soup

• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage hot or mild (substitute ground beef)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 7-8 oz sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped, reserve 2 Tbl oil
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 24 oz crushed tomatoes
• 6 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided
• 12 lasagna noodles (more or less)

Whipped Pesto Cottage Cheese

• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbl basil pesto

Begin by heating 2 tablespoons of sun-dried tomato oil (or olive oil) in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté diced onions for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add Italian sausage and cook for 5-7 minutes, until browned. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Let the mixture cook for an additional 1-2 minutes before deglazing the pot with 1/2 cup chicken broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom.

Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker and add crushed tomatoes and the remaining chicken broth. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. During the last 30 minutes, add broken lasagna noodles or another short-cut pasta.

To make the whipped cottage cheese, blend the cottage cheese in a food processor until smooth, then mix in mozzarella, parmesan, and pesto. Ladle the soup into bowls, add noodles, and top with a scoop of the whipped pesto cottage cheese. Enjoy!

Notes:

You may need to add another cup or two of water or stock if the noodles soak up too much liquid in the soup.