Tomato Basil Soup with Cheese Dumplings

Made this for dinner and had leftovers for 2 lunches. Originally served with lettuce wraps*. Leftovers heated up with leftover meatballs and ate with toast. The cheese dumplings make this soup much more filling than it would be alone. There end up being quite a few dumplings - I could see cutting that part in half, or just doubling the soup and it all being fine. Soup = ***, Dumplings = ****

• 4 cl garlic, diced
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
• 3 c broth
• 1/2 c fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 c ricotta
• 1 c parmesan
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 c flour (or less when in Canada)
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Saute the garlic and red pepper flakes, about 1 min, until fragrant.
2. Add in the whole can of tomatoes, broth, basil, 1/2 t salt and some pepper. Stir and bring to boil. Reduce heat.
3. Simmer for 7-8 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, mix the cheeses, eggs, flour, salt and pepper. Stir just until dough forms.
5. When soup is done simmering, roll dough into small balls (~48) and drop into simmering soup. Cook for about 2-5 minutes until cooked through (depending on size...better to go smaller than what I did in the picture). Note: keep at a simmer only as boiling might make the dumplings fall apart.