Lasagna Soup

With its sheets of wavy pasta, dollops of Parmesan-enriched ricotta cheese, and chunks of golden brown Italian sausage, Lasagna Soup laughs in the face of basic noodle soup. Yeah, it's pretty hard to compete with a steaming bowl of soup that contains all the best parts of classic baked lasagna. (Okay, who are we kidding, a traditional baked lasagna is pretty great.) Serve a pot of Lasagna Soup with a bottle of red wine, garlic bread, and a peppery arugula salad.

To make Lasagna Soup, you'll start by sautéing sweet Italian sausage in oil, which concentrates the flavor of the meat. Then, you'll cook fennel and onion until soft, which infuses every bite of soup with rich vegetal flavor. (Plus, they bring a bit of balance to this decadent meal.) Then you'll create a tomatoey broth to cook the noodles in and finally top it all off with a mixture of ricotta and Parmesan. For a vegetarian version, substitute plant-based meat or skip it entirely.

Italian seasoning is a handy shortcut mixture that usually contains basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, and marjoram. If you'd rather use what you have in your spice cabinet, use ¼ teaspoon each basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.