# Pizza Soup

> Brad's pizza-inspired soup with homemade meatballs, pepperoni, roasted tomatoes, harissa, and a broiler-finished cheese crust.

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

6 cups base/chicken broth (Homemade preferred)

8 fresh plum tomatoes (roasted, chopped)

1 red onion (charred, diced)

1 white onion (charred, diced)

8 cloves garlic (minced)

1 green or red bell pepper (roasted, skin removed, diced)

1 Jar of pasta sauce (Homemade preferred)

1 quarter cup diced pepperoni

2 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. Harissa Sauce (omit for less spicy soup)

Meatballs (half ground beef, half ground Italian sausage)

Italian Herbs, Black pepper, and salt to taste.

Parmesan and Mozzarella Cheese for topping.

Step 1: Form the meatballs in small balls, and set aside in the refrigerator. We used our own recipe for the meat balls, but pretty much any Italian meatball recipe would work. We made about 20 small meatballs for the soup - but you decide how much meat and what size meatballs you like. If you don't want to make meatballs you can just use cooked Italian sausage cut in to small disks.

Step 2: In a Dutch Oven, brown the pepperoni in a bit of olive oil.

Step 3: Once the pepperoni is browned (careful not to burn it), add the onions and peppers, in stages to allowing some to cook/soften more than others.

Step 4: Add tomatoes and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes or so.

Step 5: Add the garlic, stir till fragrant (about a minute).

Step 6: Add broth and pasta sauce and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Low simmer for about an hour.

Step 7: While the soup simmers, cook the meatballs in an oven or grill at around 500F until brown on top. We used a cast-iron pan for this. Length of time depends on the size of the meatballs. When finished set aside until the broth is done simmering.

Step 8: Add meatballs, Italian herbs (we used a squeeze tube variety), black pepper, and salt to the broth. Taste it until you get the correct ratio you like. You can use fresh or dry herbs - if you using dry herbs let them simmer in the soup for a bit before tasting (they need to rehydrate).

Step 9: Serve soup in oven safe bowl. Sprinkle Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese on top and place under broiler (or use a kitchen torch) till cheese is slightly brown.

Step 10: Enjoy! A side of French bread goes great with it too.

NOTE: Add Mushrooms at step 4 with the tomatoes if you like mushrooms on your pizza.

## Details

- **Category:** Cooking
- **Tags:** cooking, soup, italian, pizza, meatballs, pepperoni, harissa, mozzarella, parmesan, dutch-oven

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