A Cure for March Madness

And I don't mean the basketball variety. (I believe that's terminal, frankly.)

I mean this:





















It's what happens in March in Minnesota, and it's what I woke up to this morning. It's madness, I tell you.





















We're only two days from the first day of spring, and the landscape out our windows looks like a freakin' Currier and Ives painting.





















Of course, it will all be gone by Thursday. And it is fascinating how a thick blanket of springtime snow makes the whole world look like a black-and-white photo.

And look -- do you see what I see? Is that a bud on the tree? (Look under the snow.)

















Lord have mercy. Spring might be coming after all.

In the meantime, I'm going to use this snow day (figure of speech only, I assure you; can you imagine how much snow we have to get in Minnesota for schools to cancel?) to post the recipe for my new favorite soup. Because if it's going to be cold (still) and snowy (still), I can at least eat good food.

I was inspired by Rachel at Badgers on the Loose, who is a fellow Minnesotan, a great writer and a fabulous cook -- and not necessarily in that order. A few weeks ago, she posted a bunch of healthy and hearty soup recipes (check out her Chicken Tortilla Soup with Guacamole) that almost made me wish winter would last until May.

Almost.

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb. hot Italian sausage, bulk (although you could also use regular, if you're Scandinavian and think ketchup is a little too spicy for your likes) (by the way, you get bulk sausage -- which is just sausage meat without the casing -- right in the meat department; I just learned this)
2 cups onion, chopped
2 cup carrots, cut into coins
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp. garlic
4 cups chicken broth
1 14-oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes (I used Italian diced tomatoes, because I'd rather have bite-sized tomatoes in my soup, but it's your call)
1 10-oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup mafalda pasta (fun shape of pasta that looks like mini-lasagna noodles, but you could use bowtie or even penne, I'm sure)
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh mozzarella, diced (I use the medium-sized bocconicni; you can also use provolone cheese, but I think the fresh mozzarella is divine because it melts into soft little nuggets of wonderfuleness)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
4 tsp. thinly sliced fresh basil (or pesto, if you don't want to pay the outrageous prices for fresh herbs in the grocery store at this time of year)

Directions:
Brown sausage in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots; saute 3 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and garlic; saute another 3 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Drop in pasta and simmer until cooked, about 10 minutes, or according to package directions. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Place fresh mozzarella in bottom of soup bowls (that's my favorite part) and ladle hot soup on top. Garnish with Parmesan and basil.

I realize this is pitiful, but as I was typing up that recipe, Connor decided to start playing a "Clifford" computer game next to me, and hearing the birds tweet on Birdwell Island almost made me cry.

So you eat the soup and enjoy. Me? I'm off to fire up my flame-thrower and single-handedly bring spring to Minnesota.