Pepperoni Soup with Zucchini & Kale

Adapted from MyRecipes

A hearty meaty soup that tastes kinda like Pepperoni Pizza in soup form. It’s topped with homemade croutons and melty cheese, with a tomato base and onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and kale thrown in to round out the meal. It’s an entire meal in a bowl! You’ll feel good about serving this soup to your family.

My parents are responsible for this one … Mom called me one night and I could hear the excitement in her voice as she told me about this pepperoni soup that my dad made. It’s been a while since I heard my mom genuinely happy about something so it really caught my attention. I didn’t have time to look it up that night, but it was definitely on my mind … filed away in short term memory for someday VERY soon.

I have a lot of pepperoni in my freezer … we do this crazy thing at my house. My kids like to have “convenience foods” on hand for when I’m not around to cook for them and they need a quick meal, and yes, frozen pizza is one of the top things on that list. They want sausage pizza, but the frozen pizza gods have decided that the brand my kids like doesn’t come in sausage … it’s sausage and pepperoni pizza. So we take off the pepperoni and put it in containers and freeze it for other uses. My kids get annoyed with me, but I just can’t throw away perfectly good food! I know, sometimes the frozen pepperoni piles up in the freezer … then I end up giving it away because I just don’t know what to do with it all. (Hence why my parents had pepperoni in their freezer … and so the soup came to be.)

Anyway, it didn’t take me long to look up Pepperoni Soup recipes … and pick out one that looked similar to what my mom described on the phone. And I was blown away by the taste! How did this blah group of ingredients … end up tasting like THAT? I think it’s the pepperoni. I had to add some croutons and cheese … you know, to make it more like pizza … and a little cayenne for punch. Yeah, that’s what made it soup nirvana for me.

Pepperoni Soup with Zucchini & Kale

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb. ground beef or venison
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
• 1 cup pepperoni
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 2 Tablespoons tomato powder (or tomato paste)
• 1 quart of home-canned tomatoes or 1 28-oz. can of tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne or other powdered hot pepper (or to taste)
• 1 cup chopped kale, packed
• Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Garlic croutons (best if homemade – see notes)
• Grated Italian cheeses

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Instructions

1. In a soup pot over medium heat, cook the ground meat until browned. Drain off any excess fat, then add the olive oil, garlic and onion and saute until the onion is soft and translucent.
2. Add the pepperoni, mushrooms, zucchini and bell pepper. Cover and cook for a few minutes, then uncover and saute until the mushrooms and bell pepper are tender.
3. Stir in the tomato powder (or tomato paste), canned tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 15 – 30 minutes. Right before serving, stir in the kale just until wilted. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne, then pour into oven-safe bowls and top with croutons and grated cheese.
4. Bake (or microwave) until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

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Notes

To make homemade croutons: cut good quality bread into 1 inch pieces. In a small bowl, mix together 1 – 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of granulated garlic and a pinch of Italian seasoning. Toss to mix. Bake at 400 F for about 10 minutes or until nicely browned.

You can also save the soup in glass jars (or other sealed containers) in the fridge and reheat at serving time.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Full Plate Thursday and What to Do Weekends.