Pizza Soup

So I am always coming up with things to eat and drink that are different. I made pizza soup last night. We got home from a short vacay and I didn't have anything to eat for the week. I usually do all of the cooking or at least some of it on the weekends. I decided to make some soup, seeing as how it was 58 degrees last night. Soups are really a versatile food. You can do just about anything with them! I included the ingredients of a pizza in this soup. My husband will probably have bread or pasta with his, but I will just eat it as is. With this soup, you can add hamburger or sausage to the pepperoni (for a meat busters pizza). Olives, broccoli, tomatoes etc are also good. It is versatile. Be creative.

Pizza Soup (serves 4) 

5 ounces of nitrite-free pepperoni
3 stalks celery (diced)
2 large carrots (diced)
6 ounces button mushrooms (sliced)
1 green bell pepper
16 ounce can of tomato sauce (I used organic Muir Glen)
16 ounces water
1 tsp italian seasoning
EVOO
Wine for deglazing

Pour about 1 tbl of olive oil or butter in the pan. Slice up the pepperoni and cook it in the fat. Let the fat rinder (you want to keep that delicious stuff). Remove from pan. Saute onion and mushrooms first. Let the mushrooms brown. Add salt and pepper. Deglaze with wine. Let that evaporate. Then add pepper, carrot, and celery. Saute until soft. Add the tomato sauce and water. Stir and add italian seasoning (fresh herbs would be awesome here!). Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add back in pepperoni. Serve with pasta, rice or bread (for non-paleo eaters). I will just top mine with some mozzarella and eat as is. I calculated the calories in this soup using myfitnesspal and it is around 215, which is not bad for dinner.