Hearty Lasagna Soup

From: An old index card

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried parsley
3 1/2 cups beef broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups uncooked mafalda or corkscrew pasta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the beef, onion, garlic and parsley in a saucepan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until the beef is browned, stirring often. Pour off any fat.

Stir the broth, tomatoes and Italian seasoning in the saucepan and heat to a boil.

Stir the pasta in the saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Stir in the cheese. Serve with additional cheese, if desired.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! I liked this soup a lot. I used venison instead of beef, crushed tomatoes instead of diced, and elbow macaroni instead of corkscrew. I thought this soup was yummy and filling. My only problem with it is that I had to add a ton of water while it was cooking because the pasta soaked up so much of it. So in the end I wish I had added a little more tomato flavoring to it. It was still great though, and I would definitely make this again in the future. I also appreciated the fact that I had every ingredient in the pantry already! 

Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
lasagna noodles (I usually use 1/2 of a 12 oz box)
1 jar Prego tomato, onion, garlic Chunky Sauce
2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese
1 cup shredded provolone cheese
6-8 deli-style sliced mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet cook the ground beef until done. Cook noodles during this time according to the package. Drain beef and add tomato sauce. Spread thin layer of beef and sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Layer noodles. Mix the shredded cheese and spread on top. Layer with beef, noodle and cheese mixture. Lay the sliced cheese in a row on top.

Cover very loosely with foil. Bake at 355 for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil the last 10 minutes.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Instead of buying Prego, I normally buy the store brand that is onion and garlic-flavored. It's usually much cheaper unless Prego is on sale. Also, instead of buying both mozzarella and provolone cheese I normally just use Italian because it has both of those cheeses in there. This time I also used shredded Parmesan because I had some leftover from another recipe.

What I'll do differently next time:
Same as above.

Verdict:
Thumbs up! This is a staple in our house - I can't believe I hadn't made it yet to post on this blog. The best thing about it is that you only use half of the stuff you use - which means you can make it again right away!! This is the only lasagna Stephen will eat because it doesn't have tomato or onion chunks or ricotta cheese in it, so if you like that kind of lasagna I'll get you my mom's recipe - hers is the best!

$$:
This can seem like an expensive recipe, but keep in mind you can make two. In fact, make two and freeze one. Or eat them both at once! You can easily make this recipe for under $10 if you buy on sale and generic brands.

Easily printable version: (so if you need to print this out rather than running back and forth from the kitchen to the computer... mom. :) )

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
lasagna noodles (I usually use 1/2 of a 12 oz box)
1 jar Prego tomato, onion, garlic Chunky Sauce
2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese
1 cup shredded provolone cheese
6-8 deli-style sliced mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet cook the ground beef until done. Cook noodles during this time according to the package. Drain beef and add tomato sauce. Spread thin layer of beef and sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Layer noodles. Mix the shredded cheese and spread on top. Layer with beef, noodle and cheese mixture. Lay the sliced cheese in a row on top.

Cover very loosely with foil. Bake at 355 for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil the last 10 minutes.