Lasagna in a Soup Bowl from the new Recipe Book: Stock the Crock

Affiliate links are used in this post.  A media copy of this title was received at no cost to myself from Time Inc. Books. 

I don’t know about you but the Fix-It and Forget-It slow cooker recipe books, by Phyllis Good, have been a staple in my home for years.  Before I had those on my shelf, my slow cooker collected dust.  Now I have a new slow cooker recipe compilation to add to my menus.

In her new slow-cooker bible Stock the Crock (Oxmoor House, September 2017, $21.99), she compiles 100 delicious, tried-and-true recipes, PLUS 200 easy-to-follow variations for any dietary preference (gluten-free, paleo, vegan, etc.), including Chicken Tikka Masala, Lasagna Soup in a Bowl, Maple-Brushed Salmon, Easy French Dip, Pecan Squares, and much more.

I’ve already made a number of recipes since receiving the book, the Easy French Dip and Baked Ziti got 5 Stars from the family.  What I love most about the ‘variations’ that are included with the recipes is the “make it for picky eaters” options that are included.  If y’all have picky eaters in your home (and mine is the adult not the littles!) you understand the struggle that often is making a recipe in the slow cooker when you have to find substitutes or figure out how to maintain the integrity by leaving things out.  These handy tips save your meal and it still tastes great!

Another great feature of this book of recipes is the icon that is at the top of all the recipes that indicates the slow cooker size that should be used.  Different sizes and shapes of slow cookers will cook your food differently depending on the amount of ingredients.  Knowing the best size of crock to use will ensure you get the best results every time!

This recipe is up next on my list of ones to make, if you happen to make it leave a comment on this post letting us know what you thought!

Lasagna in a Soup Bowl by Phyllis G.

Excerpted from Stock the Crock by Phyllis Good. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Time Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

I can’t think of anyone who has ever left the table without a second round of this soup! It’s a perfect informal meal to serve anyone. Adding fresh vegetables at the end of cooking gives the soup wonderful fresh flavor.

5 qt. slow cooker. Serves 4 to 5. Prep : 15 to 30 minutes. Cook : 5 1⁄4 to 6 3⁄4 hours.

• 1 pound bulk sweet or hot Italian sausage or any link sausage, squeezed out of its casing
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup sliced or diced carrots
• 4 cups chicken broth (make your own, page 256)
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, chopped
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 to 1 1⁄4 cups uncooked mafalda pasta
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 cups thinly sliced ribbons of fresh spinach
• 1 1⁄2 cups diced provolone or mozzarella cheese
• 1⁄4 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• fresh topper: 1⁄4 cup torn fresh basil

1. Grease the interior of the slow cooker crock with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
2. If you have time, cook the sausage in a skillet over medium, breaking up sausage with a wooden spoon. Stir in the onions after the sausage is no longer pink. Sauté the onions until soft. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat and onions to the prepared crock. Discard the drippings. Note: If you don’t have time, you can crumble the uncooked sausage straight into the crock. Stir in the onions, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the carrots, chicken broth, chopped stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce, stirring to combine.
4. Cover. Cook on Low 4 to 5 hours.
5. Stir in the uncooked pasta and garlic.
6. Cover and continue cooking on Low 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours or until the pasta is tender but not mushy.
7. Stir in the mushrooms. Cover. Cook another 10 minutes on Low.
8. Just before serving, stir in the sliced spinach. (No need to cook the spinach; the heat from the soup will wilt it.)
9. To serve, divide the diced provolone or mozzarella cheese evenly into bowls and ladle the soup over the top.
10. Top with the Parmesan cheese and torn fresh basil.

TIP
For spinach ribbons, stack fresh spinach leaves about 1 inch high. Roll them up and slice into 1⁄8- to 1⁄4-inch- wide ribbons.

Simple Swaps
Use fusilli or rotini instead of mafalda pasta.
Use 1 to 2 (8-ounce) cans of mushrooms with liquid instead of fresh mushrooms. 

Make It Gluten-free 
Substitute broken soba or rice noodles, or brown rice pasta for the mafalda pasta.
Stir it in with the mushrooms in Step 7 and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until the pasta is tender. You can also substitute shirataki noodles, adding them 5 minutes before
the end of the cooking time.

Make It for Picky Eaters
Use sweet, not hot, Italian sausage, or substitute plain turkey or pork sausage, or ground beef.
Omit or reduce the amount of onions and garlic. Add 1 cup additional carrots.
Switch to plain stewed tomatoes.

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This would make a great holiday gift for those of you who know someone who loves using their slow cooker, or someone who wants to use their slow cooker more but doesn’t know what to make in it!  It’s a fantastic book to pass on to those who work long days and want to come home to a meal after work instead of getting take out .. again 😉  

You can find Stock the Crock at booksellers nation wide and online – here it is on Amazon, for Kindle it’s as low as $10.99: http://amzn.to/2zrxS2V