We had 15 people coming for lunch on Saturday. They’re a great group of friends—and we get together twice a year to talk about two books that we’ve all read.

They’re a really varied bunch—teachers, a geologist, a couple of psychologists, some administrators, a librarian, a few lawyers. We all have our reading preferences. And because of our different “specialties,” I read books I wouldn’t know about otherwise. A great gift.

Each time we meet we do four things:
1. Talk about the one book we’ve read during the first hour plus.

2. Eat and catch up with each other about everything else.

3. Talk about the second book during the last hour plus.

4. Make a passionate case for a book we’d like the group to
read and discuss the next time.

Merle and I volunteered to host on Saturday—we pass this around among the group—and I decided to make two soups. That’s the other thing we’ve established—the hosts make a fairly simple main dish. Everyone else is asked to bring either a salad or a dessert.

I hate to miss any of the conversation, so I made the soups on Friday. All I needed to do, then, on the Reading Group Day was flip on the burners and stir. And pretty much stay in the conversation.

That all worked, although I did forget to add the fresh spinach to the one soup just before serving it. Grrrr. . .

Turned out to be a wild-weather day. Drills of rain and unmannerly winds, so the Lasagna Soup was perfect.

This Soup is sturdy enough to be a main dish. And it delights kids and adults alike. Plus you can up the ratio of vegetables if you want. Or switch in another kind of meat—in whatever amount you wish. This is one flexible recipe:
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