Pizza Soup

I've had the Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind cookbook for a while now, but I haven't tried any of the recipes yet because I had too many other delicious, non-Paleo recipes to try. Anyways, I was looking for some inspiration for this round of Whole 30, and I tried this pizza soup.

This is delicious. It's loaded with vegetables and full of flavor. Since I'm doing Whole 30, I omitted the pepperoni and left the cheese off mine, although it looked so delicious on my husband's bowl. I did, however, top my soup with black olives to enhance the pizza toppings. This will be repeated already next week, but I doubt I'll photograph it then either.

Pizza Soup
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14-oz.) jars of pizza sauce (no sugar version for Whole 30)
1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 oz. sliced pepperoni
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded cheese, optional

In a large skillet, brown the Italian sausage. Remove from skillet, and set aside. Add oil to the skillet, and cook the onion and garlic until fragrant and translucent.Add in sausage and all the ingredients except the cheese. Cover, and simmer 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

To serve, ladle soup into oven-safe bowls, and top with cheese. Broil a few minutes until the cheese is golden. Top with black olives and chopped green onions, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.