Rethink pizza from a plate to a bowl! This inventive comfort food soup features pizza balls in a tomato sauce broth. Special equipment: Hand blender or food processor, Saran wrap, rolling pin, cast-iron skillet.Courtesy of Sheldon Valleau of The Caf Radio.
Directions for: Pizza Soup
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce10 large tomatoes, quartered
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
1 heads garlic, peeled
Pizza Dough1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
2 tsp rapid-rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
cup fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Soupcup olive oil
1 yellow onions, chopped
1 red peppers, chopped
1 heads garlic, finely chopped
3 (1/4-inch) slices ham, cubed
10 (1/4-inch) slices salami, cubed
10 (1/4-inch) slices Calabrese sausage, cubed
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped (available at Latin food stores)
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp coriander
cup fresh oregano leaves
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp no-salt organic seasoning (available at health food stores)
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 leaves bay
1 cup red wine
2 large tomatoes, chopped
6 cup chicken broth
Pizza Balls and PlatingPizza Dough (see recipe)
2 cup Mozzarella, shredded (for plating)
1 cup basil, chopped (for plating)
Directions
Tomato Sauce1. Combine tomatoes, yellow onion, and garlic in a large pot; cook over high for 30 minutes, or until tomatoes have wilted and released juices.
2. Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend sauce until smooth; strain to remove tomato seeds and skin. Reserve for later use.
Pizza Dough1. In a medium bowl, stir together cup warm water, butter, yeast, and sugar; set aside for 10 minutes, or until yeast blooms.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and rosemary; in batches, add flour mixture to yeast mixture and stir until an even dough forms.
3. Dust work surface with flour. Transfer pizza dough to work surface and knead until dough becomes elastic, about 10 minutes; sprinkle dough with extra flour as needed to prevent stickiness.
4. Cover dough with plastic wrap; set aside to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Soup1. Warm olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion; stir and cook for 8 minutes, or until onion is soft and translucent.
2. Stir in red pepper and cook while stirring for 8 minutes, or until red pepper starts to soften. Add garlic; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
3. Add ham, salami, and sausage to the pot and season with chipotle, cumin, coriander, oregano, onion powder, paprika, no-salt organic seasoning, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
4. Stir well to combine and increase heat to high. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, or until the spices start sticking to the bottom of the pot.
5. Pour red wine into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until liquid reduces completely.
6. Add chopped tomato, chicken broth, and tomato sauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour, or until tomato sauce no longer tastes acidic.
7. Pizza balls can be made while soup simmers.
Pizza Balls and Plating1. Dust work surface with flour, as needed.
2. Remove pizza dough from plastic wrap; hand knead and punch down dough.
3. Roll and divide dough into 35 teaspoon-sized balls. Coat the base of a deep pan with -inch of cooking oil; warm over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
4. Spoon dough balls into the oil. Fry the pizza balls, turning balls often with a spoon until all sides are golden brown.
5. Transfer balls onto a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any excess oil; set aside.
6. Plating: Ladle the soup into 4 bowls and top with 4-5 pizza balls. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the soup and garnish with basil.
7. Note: Leftover pizza dough can be used to make focaccia bread. To make focaccia, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll dough into a flat loaf and bake for 25 minutes, or until loaf rises. Leftover pizza balls and soup will keep for 4-5 days when stored separately in the fridge.
See more: Comfort Food, Soup, Dinner, Lunch, Italian, Bake