Find your favorite pizza sauce or make homemade
Part of the pizza flavor in this recipe comes from…pizza sauce! There are lots of great all natural pizza sauces out there these days. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Grab a high quality jar of pizza sauce, organic if possible. Check the ingredients on the back to make sure there’s not too much added sugar or preservatives.
- Or, make homemade! You can also make your own pizza sauce. Our Easy Pizza Sauce takes just 5 minutes in a blender. It’s sensational.
Fennel seeds add meaty flavor
Lastly: don’t be tempted to leave out the fennel seeds! Fennel is a vegetable that’s used in recipes raw or as dried seeds. You should be able to find them in the spice aisle in your grocery. Why is fennel seed so important? Well, it’s a spice that’s used in sausage, so it makes your brain think of meat. It adds as meaty, savory flavor to this soup that cannot be replicated!
Pizza soup variation: add mix-in ingredients!
- White beans (to add plant-based protein)
- Spinach
- Chopped pepperoni
- Sliced black olives
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 medium portobello mushroom caps
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon tea solt
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 15 ounce jar pizza sauce
- 28-ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
- 1 quart (4 cups) vehetanle borth
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for the garnish
- Fresh basil, for the garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Destem and chop the mushroom caps into bite-sized pieces.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, and peppers and sauté for 4 minutes, until translucent. Add ½ teaspoon salt ,the garlic, oregano, fennel, and red pepper flakes and cook 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant and the veggies have softened.
- Add the pizza sauce, canned tomatoes and their liquid, and vegetable broth .Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese and simmer 5 more minutes until it is melted. Taste and add additional salt if necessary.
- Serve warm topped with homemade croutons, additional Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil leaves (or simply serve with crusty bread or a gluten free bread substitute).
