Pizza soup
Sausage, pepperoni, peppers and mushrooms in a garlicky tomato broth, topped with melty mozzarella: a supreme pizza you eat with a spoon.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.96 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 8 oz Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 oz sliced pepperoni, chopped
- 1 can crushed tomatoes, 28 oz
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, torn (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3 cups water
Each serving has about 500 calories, 25 g protein, 26 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $2.96 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No crushed tomatoes? Diced tomatoes work.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and bell pepper, the mushrooms, the garlic and the pepperoni.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Cook the sausage in a large pot over medium-high heat, breaking it into , until with no pink left, 7 to 8 minutes.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min 30 sec
Food safety: Raw pork sausage is done at 160°F and raw chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F. Precooked sausage just needs heating until hot all the way through.
Add the onion, pepper and mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes, until the mushrooms have browned.
Medium-high heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic, pepperoni and Italian seasoning for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the crushed tomatoes, water and bouillon cubes and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low and for 15 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Taste for salt, ladle into bowls and top each with a big handful of mozzarella, parmesan and basil. The heat of the soup the cheese.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Dolly’s tip: Want it extra melty? Put oven-safe bowls under the broiler for 2 minutes, watching closely.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Sausage and gnocchi soup
35 min
Instant Pot meatballs and pasta
30 min
Bauernfrühstück (German potato, ham and egg skillet)
35 min
Chicken corn chowder
50 min
One-pan dinners ›Cozy comfort food ›What to make with parmesan and shredded mozzarella ›What to make with canned tomatoes and bell peppers ›What to make with canned tomatoes and parmesan ›