Slow Cooker Pizza Soup

A while back I heard about this woman who decided to make something in her crockpot every single day for a year. That year has passed, she accomplished it, and she's still cooking in her crockpot. I think I first saw her on Rachael Ray actually, and have had her blog on my update list since then! I haven't made a lot of her recipes, but this one is a keeper for sure. She even has a cookbook, you can find that on her site. The only thing I did was leave out the green pepper and add salt & pepper at the end. Oh, and I was going to freeze some of this (but it's so good, I keep eating the leftovers) that I scooped out what I was going to freeze before adding the noodles. That way your noodles don't go all weird and soggy when you freeze and reheat. If you do freeze and reheat, just add some cooked noodles to the soup. It's delicious...with or without noodles!

1 jar (14 oz) of pizza sauce
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 (or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)
2 already-cooked Italian sausage
1 cup sliced pepperoni, sliced in quarters
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/2 T dried)
1 T dried oregano
1/2 to 1/3 cup of dried pasta (if your pasta is tiny, use 1/3 cup. if it's big, do 1/2.)
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--I sliced, then cut the pieces in fourths. 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.

HERE is her website. Definitely one to bookmark!