Italian Sausage Pizza Soup

What You Need:

1 lb Italian sausage

1/2 C onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (4 oz) pkg. pepperoni slices

1 (16 oz) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (16 oz) can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 oz) can died tomatoes

1 (4 oz) can green chilies, chopped

4 t chili powder

1/2 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1 (15 oz) can pizza sauce

How to Make It:

Place the sausage, onion and garlic into a skillet over medium heat.

Brown the sausage until not longer pink about 8 minutes.

Drain well in a colander and pat off excess grease with paper towel.

Place into the crock pot.

Add the pepperoni into the mixture.

Place both cans of kidney beans into the crock pot.

Add in the tomatoes and the green chilies.

Sprinkle in the chili powder, salt and pepper.

Pour the pizza sauce over the top and stir to make sure all the ingredients are combined together.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Serving Size:  8

This recipe is great for teenage parties.  The kids go crazy over the pizza taste in the soup.  Chop the pepperoni into small pieces if you prefer. Serve with an Italian blend shredded cheese sprinkled on top.

Vegetable Stock

A good stock is the foundation for any good soup. This recipe is a good vegetable stock that you can use for vegetable soups. Feel free to experiment, using different vegetables and different seasonings as you see fit.

Ingredients:

1 pound celery

1 1/2 pounds sweet onions

1 pound carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 pound tomatoes, cored

1 pound green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 pound turnips, cubed

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic

3 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

6 whole black peppercorns

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1 gallon water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Remove the leaves from the celery, and set aside. Cut the celery stalks into large pieces and set aside. Cut the onion into wedges.

Toss the onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and turnips. with the olive oil, and place in a roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven, and roast for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. You may want to cook them a bit longer, you want the vegetables to start browning.

Place the roasted vegetables, along with the celery, garlic, cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley, and water into a large kettle. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by half.

Strain the broth, and either use immediately, or store for later use.