A friend of mine from Fazed (Warning, Warning: Adult Content Web Site Hither.) posted his world-champion award-winning Lasagna Soup. Well, okay, I don't think it has actually won any awards, and probably isn't a world-champion. But it should be. Unfortunately for me, his soup had meat in it. Rather than give up completely, I decided to vegetarianize it.

I often take meat recipes and make them vegetarian recipes. I'd love to figure out how to make them vegan recipes, but I haven't gotten quite that far yet (which is why I've included a lot of vegan cookbooks on my wedding registry, because I don't have the skill yet to make them up on my own). This lasagna soup has quite a lot of cheese in it, so I just halved the amount I put in the recipe, reducing animal product consumption (and that's my goal, remember?).

Now, this recipe had "bulk Italian sausage" in it. Obviously, that had to go. I replaced it with a pound and a half equivalent of veggie crumbles. A pound (equivalent) of veggie crumbles would be good, too, but I happened to have a pound and a half on hand. Veggie crumbles are a ground beef substitute for vegetarians. You can normally find them near the frozen breakfast food section of the freezers in your local Wal-Mart, Hyvee, or Target. I don't know where they'd be located in other stores, but always feel free to ask an employee where the "vegetarian meat" is at. Boca is one company that makes them and Morningstar is another.

There is a big difference between veggie crumbles and Italian sausage. That difference is spices. I looked up a few recipes that comprise homemade Italian seasoning, and decided to give that a whirl.

Jen's Italian Seasoning (Mix and Mash of other people's recipes)

2 T dried oregano
1.5 T dried basil
1.5 T dried parsley
.5 T garlic powder
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
.5 t onion powder
Black Pepper (about 1/8 - 1/2 of a teaspoon is good, depending on your taste)
Red Pepper (same as above)

Next, I took one tablespoon of Jen's Italian Seasoning (feel free to put the rest in an airtight container and hold on to it for later) and one tablespoon of dried fennel, and put it in a coffee grinder. I ground it all together until most of the fennel was chopped into smaller bits, and then dropped it and a tablespoon of olive oil into a large stockpot on low heat. After the herbs had spent a little bit of time simmering in the olive oil, I dropped in the pound and a half (equivalent) of veggie crumbles. I mixed those all together with my handy dandy spoon.

After that I looked back to Toonz recipe and added in two cups of chopped onions. Again, I deviated a tiny little bit, adding two cups of sliced carrots next (instead of one cup of minced carrots). Then, following his recipe, I added in two tablespoons of bottled minced garlic. I sauted that together on high heat for around four minutes altogether.

Next I added in two cans of vegetable broth (equivalent of four cups), 1 can of Italian-stewed tomatoes (whole, with juice), and 1 can tomato sauce. I brought that to a boil and added in two cups of uncooked gemelli pasta. After about 3 minutes, I brought the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for an additional ten - twelve minutes. Last, I dropped in a bag of fresh spinach (around two cups, whole leaf) and stirred it until it wilted (but not so much that it resembled spinach from a can, because I'm not a fan of that stuff).



To serve, I put in half of a handful of shredded mozarella cheese, ladled the soup on top, garnished with a small amount of shredded parmesan, a few sprinkles of dried basil, and more red pepper (to taste).



Aaron's rating? "I wouldn't be able to tell this was vegetarian." Score!

Jen's Take On Toonz's Lasagna Soup
1 T Jen's Italian Seasoning
1 T Fennel
1 T olive oil
1 - 1.5 pounds of veggie crumbles
2 cups onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 Tb minced garlic
4 cups vegetable broth
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-stewed tomatoes, whole
1 can (15) tomato sauce
2 cups uncooked curly pasta (I used gemelli)
2 cups fresh spinach
shredded mozzarella
shredded Parmesan
dried basil & red pepper for garnish

If you try it - let me know what you think! I'm love with the scent and colors of this meal, not to mention the amazing taste. (Thanks Toonz!)

Labels: cooking