Pizza Soup

From: Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 (14-oz) jar pizza sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (4-oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 oz thinly sliced pepperoni, cut into tiny strips
1 (26-oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 (26-oz) can water
4 oz mozzarella cheese

Spray a slow cooker with cooking spray. In the slow cooker mix together the pizza sauce, onion, mushrooms, pepperoni, tomato soup and water. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Garnish each serving with mozzarella cheese.

What I did differently from the recipe:
For one thing, I didn't measure anything. I just dumped. I know I only used 20 oz of tomato soup though, because I just used 2 10-oz cans. Nothing else was even that precise. Also, I used fresh mushrooms instead of canned. Just as good - trust me.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up!! Want an easier recipe than this one that I did awhile ago? Well, here it is! This one was so incredibly easy and it was great! It was tangy, a touch spicy, and the cheese melting into it was so good. I love that I just grabbed stuff from the pantry and tossed it into the slow cooker and just left it. Obviously those are my favorite recipes.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1 (14-oz) jar pizza sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (4-oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 oz thinly sliced pepperoni, cut into tiny strips
1 (26-oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 (26-oz) can water
4 oz mozzarella cheese

Spray a slow cooker with cooking spray. In the slow cooker mix together the pizza sauce, onion, mushrooms, pepperoni, tomato soup and water. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Garnish each serving with mozzarella cheese.

Pizza Soup

Ingredients:
3/4 cup riso or acini di pepe soup macaroni, uncooked
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups beef broth
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp ground fennel
2 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
dried basil for garnish

In a large pot, cook macaroni in boiling water about 10 minutes or until tender; drain. Saute onion, mushrooms, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until onion is transparent.

Add beef broth, tomato sauce, basil, fennel and cooked macaroni; simmer 10 minutes. Mixture will thicken. Add water to achieve desired consistency. Ladle soup into bowls. Top each serving with cheese and a pinch of basil.

What I did differently:
I just used regular elbow macaroni. I'm not even sure what "riso" or "acini di pepe" are without Googling them. Other than that I did everything the same.

What I'll do differently next time:
Maybe add a meat to the mixture.

Verdict:
Thumbs up. It was a good recipe - not the best ever - but good. I'm not a huge fan of fennel but I still added it, but it could definitely be left out. One thing that might make this better would be to add something like ground beef or even pepperoni. I'm a fan of this soup because of how well it supposedly freezes. Those recipes are always my favorite!

Printable version:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup riso or acini di pepe soup macaroni, uncooked
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups beef broth
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp ground fennel
2 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
dried basil for garnish

In a large pot, cook macaroni in boiling water about 10 minutes or until tender; drain. Saute onion, mushrooms, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until onion is transparent. Add beef broth, tomato sauce, basil, fennel and cooked macaroni; simmer 10 minutes. Mixture will thicken. Add water to achieve desired consistency. Ladle soup into bowls. Top each serving with cheese and a pinch of basil.