Pizza Soup (A What's-in-the-Fridge Concoction)

As the weather has gotten colder and my health has worsened, I long for soup. Ramen or canned soup are comforting guilty pleasures, but my body craves something more suitable for becoming well.

So I walk into the kitchen (more so drag myself into the kitchen...) and scan the pantry for something to eat. I contemplate the clam chowder, my body saying "no thank you, I don't need dairy right now, and for God's sake you already had enough salt with that damn ramen". I find a can of Italian Wedding Soup, but despite the promises of whole wheat pasta and all-natural ingredients, I sigh to think of how unsatisfied my stomach would be from a lowly can of broth and barely-filling ingredients.

I turn my attention to the carton of unsalted vegetable broth. That's nice, but I can't make vegetable soup, or chicken noodle soup, or...wait a second. I open the refrigerator. Meat? I have a half pack of pre-cooked Italian chicken sausage. Vegetables? I have a green bell pepper, and there are onions in a bowl on the counter, as well as plenty cloves of garlic. And what else goes well with all those main ingredients? I take the canned diced tomatoes and whole wheat elbow macaroni from the pantry, and pull out a jar of bay leaves and Greek Seasoning from the spice cabinet. F-Yeah.

Pizza Soup

Yeilds 4-6 Servings

Ingredients:
4 cups  Vegetable Broth
1 Tbsp  Oil (I used Extra Virgin)
2 Links Italian Sausage, pre-cooked and cut into small chunks
1/2        Bell Pepper, chopped
1/2        Onion, chopped
5 Toes  Garlic, minced
1 Can   Diced Tomato
3           Small Bay Leaves
2 Cups  Whole Wheat Elbow Macaroni, cooked (or bowties, or ziti, or wagon wheels)
Greek Seasoning, Pizza Seasoning, or Creole Seasoning, to taste

 Method:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.
2.  Heat oil on medium-high heat in chili pot/large pot.
3. Cook Bell Pepper, Onion, and Garlic until nearly softened.

4. Add Italian Sausage and Diced Tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes.

5. Pour in vegetable broth. Stir in bay leaves and desired seasoning.

7. Bring to a low boil, then simmer on low heat for 25-45mins.
8. Add pasta to soup, and serve!

 
Tips: 
1. If you know you'll  be having leftovers, don't add all the pasta into the soup, as the pasta may become soft or mushy overnight. Simply fill your bowl(s) with desired amount of pasta, and ladle the soup on top.
2. If you prefer to use raw sausage, cut the link into small chunks then cook them with the onion and bell pepper until the onions are almost clean and/or the sausage is NEARLY cooked though (step 3).
OR....cut raw sausage into chunks, cook the chunks until done, set aside, and add the cooked sausage to the soup near the end of the simmering process.
3. Don't like Italian Sausage? Use another sausage! I  highly suggest roasted garlic sausage or sundried tomato sausage.
4. The green bell pepper can easily be omitted (or substituted with a different sweet pepper!) without totally affecting the special"pizza" flavor.