Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup

 I don't make lasagna from scratch ... like ever. It never turns out as good as a lasagna from Costco. Well, maybe it's a little better, but not worth 10x the amount of work. Ha! Anyway, this is easy and quick and more up my alley. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• ▢1 pound lean ground sausage
• ▢3 teaspoons Italian seasoning - divided
• ▢1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• ▢1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• ▢4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• ▢1 teaspoon salt - or to taste
• ▢¼ teaspoon black pepper - or to taste
• ▢8 ounces broken lasagna noodles or short noodles - boiled til tender
• ▢⅔ cup ricotta cheese - plus more for serving
• ▢handful of fresh basil leaves - thinly sliced or finely chopped
• ▢¼-½ cup shaved or grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Add ground sausage to a skillet, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and saute over medium-high heat for about five minutes until browned. Transfer to slow cooker along with pasta, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and remaining Italian seasoning.
• Cover and cook for 2 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in ricotta cheese, re-cover and allow to cook for a half hour longer.
• Just before serving, stir in basil. Serve topped with parmesan cheese and additional ricotta cheese and basil if desired.

I think the only change I made was using cellentani (I think?) pasta instead of broken lasagna noodles. But I'm sure it would be good either way. It wasn't our favorite soup ever, but I'll definitely make it again. Serve it with good bread!