Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb ground Italian Sausage, removed from casing (may also use ground beef but will not be as spicy or flavorful)
• 3 cups chicken stock, divided
• 2 (28 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 9 lasagna noodles broken into small pieces
• salt and pepper, to taste
• ricotta cheese and freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

1. Brown sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat.  As it is cooking break up sausage into small pieces with the side of a spoon.  Once sausage has cooked through completely remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and place it on a plate covered with paper towels to soak up some of the extra grease.
2. Return the pan to burner and lower the heat to medium low.  Add the diced onion.  Allow to cook until starts to turn slightly brown at the edges.  Add garlic and cook stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup of chicken stock to the skillet and stir up all the little bits of brown stuff off the sides and bottom of the pan.
4. Add sausage to the slow cooker.
5. Slowly pour the pan with the onions, garlic and chicken stock mix over the sausage.
6. Add tomato sauce and spices to the slow cooker.
7. Stir well and allow to cook on low for 6 hours.
8. One hour before you are ready to serve your soup taste for appropriate spiciness and adjust spices and thickness to your liking.  Then add lasagna noodles.  Stir well cover and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check for noodle tenderness. They get soggy really quickly if you don’t watch them.
9. Remove 3 bay leaves from soup.
10. Serve soup with a dollop of ricotta cheese, a sprinkling of Parmesan and a bit of ground black pepper over the top if you wish.