Pepperoni Pizza Soup

My favorite way to eat this.  Yum, garlic and cheese croutons!

Another Tom+Chee knock-off.  (If you can't tell, I really like Tom+Chee.)  This one, however, was not one I tried in the restaurant, but one a friend of mine wanted to me to recreate.  He secretly left it on my door step on a Friday night while I was out with my husband, leaving a note that I had one week to complete the challenge.

The sketchy brown paper bag I found on my doorstep.

And the warning that I have one week and to not fail.

 Needless to say, I was a little freaked out.  Who left what with a warning on my doorstep?  Once I figured out who it was from, I told him I would have it created by that Sunday.  That weekend involved a lot of tasting and trying to find what tasted the most like Tom+Chee's soup.

After testing the soup, and writing down the ingredients I tasted in it (pepperoni, cheese, cream, random spices such as basil and oregano), I did a quick Google search to see if there was anything similar on the internet.  Lone behold, I found this recipe for Tom+Chee Pepperoni Pizza Soup.  It gave me a great start, but I have to confess, it didn't taste just right, so I had to work a little harder to make it taste exactly like it.

The Ingredients

• 1 7oz. package of Hormel Pepperoni, cut in fourths
• 10 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup of  Little Penguin Chardonnay
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. coriander
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. salt
• 10 Tbsp. flour
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 5 cups of heavy cream
• 1 14.5 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
• 2 packages of Sargento Artisan Blends Shredded Mozzarella & Provolone Cheese

Cooking

1. Render the pepperoni in a large, heavy bottom stock pot.  To me, I knew when the pepperoni was done when it was crispy.  Remove the pepperoni from the pot, and set aside on a paper towel to remove excess grease and fat.  Empty the fat from the pot.
2. Melt butter in the same pot.  Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and saute until the onion is soft and translucent.  
3. Stir in white wine, herbs, and spices, and cook for about 5 more minutes.
4. Add flour slowly (a tablespoon at a time, stirring each tablespoon in) to create a roux.
5. Stir in chicken stock, cream, and tomatoes.
6. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat.  Let soup simmer and thicken.  For me, this took about 15 minutes.
7. Add pepperoni back to soup.  Slowly add cheese, stirring it in about a small handful at a time, to prevent it from clumping together and sticking to the pot.
8. Enjoy!  I found that I really liked topping this soup with croutons, however, you can try adding more cheese, crackers, eating it with crusty bread, dipping a grill cheese sandwich in it (yum!), however you want.

The first picture of the soup I sent my friend.  He told me he was keeping me around, just for recreating this.

   Needless to say, I was pretty proud of this soup.  My friend came over immediately after I sent him a picture, and despite the fact that he just ate dinner, he downed a bowl.  My husband could not get over how much it tasted like a pepperoni pizza, as well as it tasted like the bowl of soup left on our porch.  I brought a bowl to work the next day, and let a few people try it, who also agreed it tastes just like the soup from Tom+Chee.  Pretty proud, and pretty excited to have this recipe to share!  It's definitely not the healthiest recipe I have ever made, but it's good every once in a while for a treat.