Pizza Soup

"Oh, this is the best pizza in a cup ever. This guy is unbelievable. He ran the old Cup 'o Pizza guy out of business. People come from all over to eat this." No, I was not inspired by The Jerk when coming up with last night's dinner, but the end result did remind me of the Cup o' Pizza scene. I was craving soup after reading a recipe post on Herbivoracious for Chickpea, Spinach & Tomato soup that sounded amazing. The Boyfriend was good with that idea but specifically requested something spicy to help with his cold he's battling. Using those two ideas, I came up with this.

Vary ingredient quantities to taste:
1 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 large cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1/2 lb Italian sausage
2 15-oz cans chopped tomatoes, Italian style, drained
2 15-oz cans cannellini beans
1 carton Pacific Natural chicken broth
2/3 pkg frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, drained (one whole pkg is a lot, but not bad)
Oregano
Basil
Crushed red pepper
S & P
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Saute onions and Italian sausage in olive oil. Add garlic, saute longer; add all of the rest of the ingredients except lemon juice and simmer for 30 minutes. Towards the end, add the lemon juice.

Serve with garlic Triscuits - rub Triscuits thoroughly with garlic (the Black Pepper ones are awesome this way), and broil til just browned. The flavor of the soup, along with the garlic Triscuits, tastes just like pizza in a cup!

Sauvignon Blanc went really well with this also.