Pizza Soup — The Sixteenth-Birthday-Week Soup with Pepperoni and Melted Mozzarella

I turned sixteen on Thursday June fifteenth. I want to put it on the page in pen because sixteen is the kind of year that has weight on it, and Thursday was the day the year started.

The day was a regular Thursday. Mama at her shift. Me at the Sonic for a late afternoon. School had ended on Tuesday for the summer. I came home from the Sonic at eight-thirty with the polo smelling like fryer grease and Mama was at the kitchen table with a small wooden box on the table in front of her. She had brought it home from work in her lunch bag.

I want to walk through what the box is. The box is Grandma Carol’s actual recipe box. The original. The thirty index cards in her handwriting that Mama has kept in her closet for thirteen years because she could not face them. Aunt Tammy had stored the box at her house since the funeral in 2004, because Mama could not have the box in her own closet, and Aunt Tammy had been holding it. Mama drove up to Tulsa the previous weekend and Aunt Tammy gave her the box back.

Mama set the box on the kitchen table at eight-thirty Thursday night. She said, baby, you are the right person for this now. She slid it across the table to me. I cried at the kitchen table for a long minute and Mama did not try to make me stop. She let me have it. The box is light. It is wooden, painted pale green, with a small brass latch. Inside are thirty index cards, hand-written, in pencil and pen, in Grandma Carol’s slanted careful hand. Each one is a recipe.

I have been reading them all week. Some are the recipes I already know — the chicken and dumplings, the cornbread dressing, the pinto bean technique. Some are recipes I had not heard of: a peach kuchen from 1971, a vinegar pie from 1965, a casserole called Tuna Mountain that has the date 1968 written on the back. The box is going to live on the kitchen counter from now on. The box is the inheritance that has weight on it.

And the recipe Sunday was pizza soup. I had picked it because the recipe was the kind of fun-named soup the magazines were running for early-summer kids’ lunches, and because, on a sixteenth-birthday-week, I wanted to make something that did not take itself too seriously.

The math: a pound of Italian sausage from the markdown rack $2.99, a small package of sliced pepperoni $1.99, a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes $1.49, a 32-oz carton of chicken broth $1.99, a small package of fresh mozzarella balls (the small ones, called pearls) $2.99, an onion $0.20, garlic from the bulb free, dried oregano and basil from the rack. Total: about $11.65 for a pot that fed Mama and me for three lunches.

The technique is the soup-build. Brown the sausage in the soup pot, breaking it up. Drain off most of the fat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic, sweat for three minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and the chicken broth. Add the dried oregano and basil. Simmer for twenty minutes. Stir in the sliced pepperoni in the last five minutes so it warms but does not turn rubbery. You ladle into bowls. You drop a small handful of fresh mozzarella pearls into each bowl, where they melt slightly in the hot soup. You serve with garlic bread (just buttered and garlic-rubbed slices of bread broiled briefly on a sheet pan).

The bowl tastes like a pepperoni pizza in soup form. Mama said, when she ate this Sunday night, baby, this is what every kid in America wishes their school cafeteria served. She is not wrong.

The nineteenth Saturday visit. Cody knew it was my birthday week. He had hand-made me a card from a piece of folded printer paper from the unit’s craft program. He had drawn a small kitchen on the front in pencil with what I think were biscuits coming out of the oven. The inside of the card said, in his careful handwriting: Kay, Sixteen looks good on you. C. The card is in the front of the green notebook now, taped onto the inside of the cover. The card and Grandma Carol’s recipe box are the two birthday gifts of the year. Both are going on the page in pen.

The recipe is below. The trick is the fresh mozzarella pearls dropped into the hot soup at serving — the small balls melt slightly and become creamy pockets in the bowl. The pepperoni goes in at the end so it warms but does not turn rubbery.

Pizza Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mini pepperoni slices
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Fresh basil for topping (optional)
• Crusty bread or garlic bread for serving

Instructions

1. Cook the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add diced onion and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds more until fragrant.
2. Brown the pepperoni. Add mini pepperoni slices to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges start to crisp and the oils release.
3. Build the soup base. Pour in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and broth. Stir in Italian seasoning, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes if using. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Simmer. Bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavors meld together and the soup thickens slightly.
5. Add the cheese. Remove the pot from heat. Stir in 1 cup of mozzarella and all the Parmesan until melted and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
6. Serve warm. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with remaining shredded mozzarella, a few fresh basil leaves if you have them, and a thick slice of crusty bread for dunking. Eat standing at the counter if you need to. No judgment.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 16g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 1180mg