Ingredients
Method
Make the Brown Butter Sage Base
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Once it begins to foam, add the sage and cook until the leaves are dark green and crisp and the butter smells nutty and turns deeply golden. Transfer the crispy sage to a plate for serving.
- Add the shallots and a pinch of salt directly to the brown butter. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft and beginning to caramelize.
- Add the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
Brown the Sausage
- Add the chicken sausage and fennel seeds to the pot. Break the sausage into irregular bite-size pieces.
- Let the sausage sit against the pot long enough to develop deeply browned edges before stirring. Season with black pepper.
- Make the Pumpkin Miso Broth
- Push the sausage mixture toward the sides of the pot. Add the tomato paste to the center and cook for about 2 minutes, until dark brick red and caramelized.
- Stir in the pumpkin purée and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to deepen its flavor.
- Whisk the miso with 1/2 cup of the chicken broth until smooth. Add it to the pot with the remaining broth, scraping up every browned bit from the bottom.
- Add the nutmeg and black pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir in the whole milk and Parmesan. Taste before adding the sea salt because the sausage, miso, broth and Parmesan already contain salt.
Cook the Lasagna and Greens
- Add the broken lasagna sheets to the gently simmering soup. Cook according to the package directions until just al dente, stirring frequently so the pieces do not stick together or catch on the bottom.
- Add a splash of extra broth if the soup becomes too thick while the pasta cooks.
- Fold in the spinach and cook just until wilted. Stir in the apple cider vinegar, then taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
Make the Whipped Ricotta
- Whip the ricotta, Greek yogurt, Parmesan, lemon zest, black pepper and sea salt in a food processor or with a hand mixer until thick, creamy and almost fluffy.
- Refrigerate until serving.
Build the Bowls
- Ladle the hot soup into shallow bowls, making sure each serving gets plenty of sausage and large lasagna ribbons.
- Add a generous scoop of cold whipped ricotta.
- Finish with the reserved crispy sage, Parmesan, fresh thyme, black pepper, red pepper flakes and an optional drizzle of olive oil.
Nutrition
Notes
Brown the butter over medium heat and remove the sage as soon as it is crisp. If the milk solids turn black, the butter is burned rather than browned.
Give the sausage time to brown before stirring. The caramelized edges and browned bits on the bottom of the pot build the savory base of the broth.
Cook the tomato paste and pumpkin before adding the broth. This removes their raw flavor and makes the pumpkin taste deeper and more savory.
Keep the soup at a gentle simmer after adding the milk. A hard boil can cause the dairy to separate.
The lasagna will continue absorbing broth as the soup sits. Keep extra chicken broth available to loosen leftovers.
For a vegetarian version, omit the sausage, use vegetable broth and add one drained 15-ounce can of cannellini beans with the broth.
Store the whipped ricotta separately from the soup. Refrigerate both in airtight containers for up to four days. Reheat the soup gently with an extra splash of broth and add the cold ricotta after serving.
The nutrition estimate includes the whipped ricotta but excludes the optional olive oil and extra finishing Parmesan. Values will vary depending on the sausage, broth, miso and Parmesan brands used.