Trick or Treat Soup with Witches Brooms

Just a few more days to wait for the annual entertainment of seeing the neighborhood kids (and a few of the adults) dressed up for Halloween.  Our routine is always the same—the news is on the TV, the carved pumpkins are lit and on the porch, and a big bowl of candy awaits our trick or treaters—probably a lot like your routine?  This is a night when nobody minds answering the door—it is fun to see the kids in their costumes and hear them laughing when they run up to the door—and their shouts when they leave for the next house.

This is a night when there’s no time to cook.  Both this soup and the witch’s brooms can be made the day before and heated up for eating whenever anybody gets hungry.  And it makes plenty so you can invite a neighbor or two to join you—if you can tear them away from their own front door.  Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat Soup with Witches Brooms

Soup serves 8
24 Witches Brooms

Ingredients for the Soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 cup sliced turkey pepperoni
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Optional garnishes:  additional sliced fresh basil, sliced green onions, grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the Witches Brooms:

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed per package directions
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

To prepare the soup:

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil.  Add the onion and green pepper and cook, stirring until the vegetables are soft.  Add the mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid and are soft.  Add the garlic and cook stirring for 1 more minute.  Add the ground beef and turkey pepperoni and cook, breaking up the beef into crumbles until it is no longer pink.

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, chicken broth, basil, oregano and pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

To prepare the witches brooms:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Unfold one sheet of the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface.   Cut the dough into thin ½-inch strips (I used a pizza cutter).  Twist the strips and place them on the baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.  Using a small knife or kitchen scissors, make thin 2 inch cuts on one end of each strip to make the “broom” ends.  Brush the brooms with oil and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with Trick or Treat Soup.