Lasagna Soup

I had heard of lazagna soup but thought it would be just a soupy, saucy mess. Boy was I wrong.  This soup is absolutely delish and very easy to make.  I used 1 lb. Italian sausage instead of the ground beef. This comes from cookingclassy.com 2013.

2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups)
3 - 5 garlic cloves, to taste, minced
4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 Tblsp. tomato paste
1 3/4 tsp. dried basil
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp. fennel sees, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp, sugar
1 1/2 Tblsp. chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 lasagna noodles broken into bite size pieces (6.5 oz.)
1 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (5 oz.)
1/2 c. finely shredded parmesan cheese (2 oz.)
8 oz. ricotta cheese

Heat one Tblsp. olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Once hot, crumble beef, or sausage, into pot, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally until browned.  Drain majority of fat from beef and set aside (you can drain it all if you want it to be healthier.  I just like the little bit of flavor a small amount of the fat gives).  Heat remaining 1 Tblsp. olive oil in pot, add chopped yellow onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes.  Add in garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.  Add in chicken broth, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil oregano, rosemary, fennel seeds, thyme, sugar, parsley, the cooked meat and season withg salt and pepper to taste.  Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles according to directions listed on package, reserving 1 cup pasgta water before draining pasta.
Add cooked pasta to soup along with 1/2 cup - 1 cup pasta water as desired.  In a mixing bowl, using a fork, stir together mozzarela, parmesan an ricotta.
Ladle soup into bowls, dollop with a large scoop of the  cheese mixture and sprinkle with chopped parsley (you can help the cheese melt better by cooking in the microwave after dolloping over soup for  bit or you could put the soup in oven safe bowl, top with cheese mixture and set under broiler to melt well.  Or just stir into very hot soup and it should melt well).