My first blog entry

This is my first blog entry... Here's to the start of kooky Patty World. As I stated in my blog header, in Patty World there is food. I thought this could be a fun way to get recipes out to my friends. I am starting with a new recipe that my little Erin and I tested last week. We will be hosting her brownie troop next week for their cooking badge and we wanted to make sure it was a winner. And it was a big hit with both the girls and John Cookson. As you may know, Erin LOVES soup, so when I asked her what she wanted to make with her friends her immediate response was soup. Coincidentially, there was an article on soups for kids in this month's Family Fun magazine.

So here is the original recipe with my notes. Many of you know I never follow a recipe exactly.

Lasagna Soup

When Meredith Deeds was working on her cookbook "300 Sensational Soups," her son, Kyle, came up with the idea of turning his favorite meal, lasagna, into a soup. The tomato-y broth, brimming with sausage and pasta, melts the mix of cheeses placed in each bowl before serving. A quick swirl of the spoon ensures diners will get a bit of gooey cheese in every bite.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage (bulk or with casings removed)
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 ounces fusilli pasta
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
8 ounces ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and sauté, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

2. Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the basil. If desired, season with salt and black pepper to taste.

3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the Parmesan, the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup on top. Makes about 13 cups.

Patty’s notes – I look at a recipe as a starting point, so I replaced the regular sausage with chicken sausage, omitted red pepper flakes, replaced the fusilli pasta with rotini pasta, omitted the ricotta cheese and used the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses as topping.