Lauren Habermehl from Pewaukee, Wisconsin created a copycat recipe for Panera's three-cheese lasagna soup. The soup starts with ground pork browned with garlic and onions, seasoned with Italian herbs, fennel, and red pepper flakes. Tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and chicken broth form the base. Cream, ricotta, and Parmesan cheese create the creamy sauce. Mafalda pasta and Asiago cheese finish the dish.
Habermehl recommends pairing the soup with a garden salad and crusty bread for dipping, or serving it in a bread bowl. She suggests storing leftovers in an airtight container for up to four days, keeping pasta separate to preserve texture. The soup can freeze for up to three months. She notes that whole-milk ricotta and freshly grated Parmesan and Asiago work best for the creamy, cheesy result.
For a thicker soup, Habermehl recommends increasing cornstarch by one to two tablespoons or reducing chicken broth. Alternatively, cooks can add uncooked pasta directly to the pot after the broth and tomatoes, but this requires an additional 15 ounces of crushed tomatoes and one to two cups of chicken broth.