Week #49: Wisconsin - Brats & Beer Cheese Soup Pizza

State:  Wisconsin

When I think of Wisconsin, I think of cheese curds, beer, brats and the Packers.  From what I researched, beer cheese soup is a popular dish and bratwursts are very common as well. When making a pizza with bread flour, I had to do the beer cheese soup and brats pizza.  I hope you enjoy this, as it was very tasty. 

Ingredients:

4 ounces bock beer (I used Scotch ale)

1⁄2 cup onion - minced

1⁄2 cup carrot - minced

1⁄2 cup celery - minced

1⁄4 cup sweet red pepper - minced

1/2 (10 1/2 ounce) carton organic chicken broth

1⁄4 cup flour

1/2 cup half-and-half

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese - shredded

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to preference

Soup:

Open beer and let stand while mincing vegetables.  In a medium soup pot, sauté the vegetables with 1 tablespoons of butter until they become translucent.  Add flour and create a roux, stirring until golden brown.  Add chicken broth and stir.  Add half of the beer and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Pour remainder amount of beer into pot.  Stirring continuously, add half &half and cheese.  Heat until cheese melts.  Stir in sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and allow soup to cool. 

Brats:

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook brats on both sides until they get a nice sear.  Remove from oven once the Brats reach 170 degrees and are mostly gray in color. Allow to cool and cut into slices. 

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 450.  Cook crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Turn down heat to 400 degrees.  Scoop out soup with a ladle and pour onto pizza.  Make sure to pour in small quantities, so that you do not go over the edges of the pizza crust.  Next, add the slices of bratwurst onto the pizza, spreading out so each slice will have an even share of meat.  Put into oven for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to pizza cool before cutting or eating. 

Pairing:

When pairing a beer with this pizza, I decided to use Scotch ale versus a bock beer just for the flavor that the Scotch ale brings.  So I would recommend a Scotch or Bourbon Ale, or even an Imperial Stout.   Cheers!

Learning Moments:

This was the first time I made beer cheese soup and it is so thick, I could not imagine myself to eat it without the pizza crust.  I did find the soup tasty, but by itself, it would be too much.  This challenge has had me learn how to make things I normally I would not make.  I love where this challenge is taking my cooking skills and will force me to learn how to cook better.  Hope you try and enjoy this pizza!