Crockpot Pizza Soup

I tried another recipe from A Year of Crockpotting yesterday.  This was really easy to make and tasted really good!  The whole house smelled like pizza :)  The only thing I wasn't crazy about was that it was too spicy.  But that was only because the pepperoni I happened to use was spicy.  It was turkey pepperoni.  I had some in the freezer.  I'm not a big fan of pepperoni, and this particular kind is quite spicy.  We don't like a lot of spice.  But other than that it was really good.  Rebecca didn't eat much...I think because of the spice.  Normally she loves sausage.  But she only ate a couple chunks.  I didn't have pizza sauce in the house, so I just added plain tomato sauce and some extra seasoning.  I didn't add much pasta.  Justin said he would have liked more.  For the sausage I used some lean sweet italian turkey sausage (uncooked) cut up in little chunks.  Overall this was very good.  I'll definitely make it again...just with less spicy pepperoni or without any pepperoni.  The sausage by itself would be good I think.  And another positive...I got Justin to eat mushrooms :)

Crockpot Pizza Soup

1 jar (14 oz) of pizza sauce (I used a 15 oz. jar of tomato sauce, then added some salt, pepper, garlic powder and brown sugar)

3 empty jars full of water
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup baby tomatoes, cut in quarters (I used 1 can diced tomatoes)
2 already-cooked Italian sausage (I used 2 sweet Italian sausages (uncooked), cut/broken in chunks (casing removed))
1 cup sliced pepperoni, sliced in quarters (I used Hormel turkey pepperoni)
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
1 Tnsp. dried oregano (I used a pizza seasoning blend in place of the basil and oregano)
1/2 to 1/3 cup of dried pasta (I used organic whole wheat penne)
shredded mozzarella cheese (to add later)

Use a 5 or 6 quart crockpot for this recipe. Serves 4 hungry adults, or 2 hungry adults and 2 kids with enough leftovers to feed them all again.

Wash and prepare veggies. Dump them into the crockpot. Cut up the sausage into small pieces. Add to crockpot. Cut up the pepperoni, add it, too. Add basil and oregano. Pour in the pizza sauce, and follow with three empty jars of water.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours. Everything in this is already cooked, so you are really only heating through and allowing the flavors to meld.

Thirty minutes before serving, add the dry pasta, and turn to high. My pasta only took 20 minutes to soften quite nicely.

Garnish/top with shredded mozzarella cheese.