Seasonal recipe: Roasted eggplant soup
As summer turns to fall, our food blogger's thoughts turn to soup. This week's seasonal recipe is a rich, creamy, and chock full of end-of -summer vegetables.
Thu, Sep 03 2009 at 3:00 PM EST
Roasted eggplant soup
It’s been an unusually chilly week this week, so I thought I’d chose a soup to make as this week’s seasonal recipe. My garden is still producing eggplants and tomatoes, so I settled on a soup that uses both of those vegetables along with others that I got from the farmers market.
I found a Roasted Eggplant Soup recipe that The Washington Post put up a few years ago that sounded perfect. It takes roasted eggplants, tomatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, and shallots then adds them to broth and cream to make creamy, puréed vegetable soup that’s not like your typical vegetable soup.
The soup doesn’t take much work, but it does take a bit of time because the vegetables roast for 45 minutes and then cook in the liquids for another 45 minutes before they get blended together. I halved the recipe because I only had two small eggplants available.
I’ve never tried anything like this before but I am so glad I gave this recipe a shot. It’s delicious. The Washington Post article called it mellow, but I wouldn’t describe it like that. I’d say it was rich – not because of the cream but because of how the roasting brought out the full flavors of the vegetables. It was a bit sweet. That could have been the wine I chose – a Pinto Grigio because that is what I had open. I served it with some crusty bread and did a lot of dipping – I love dipping bread in creamy soups.
Please note: I took the pictures before I ate the soup (I had tasted it first, of course), and I completely forgot to add the goat cheese garnish for the pictures.
Ingredients
- 3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
- 1 large or 2 medium eggplants (about 1 1/2 pounds), halved lengthwise, stem end trimmed
- 1 small onion, halved
- 2 leeks, cleaned and split lengthwise, tougher outer leaves removed
- 2 whole shallots, peeled, ends trimmed
- 6 large cloves garlic, peeled
- About 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 3 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (about 3 ½ oz) crumbled goat cheese, for garnish
Time Estimates
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 hrs
Total time: 2 hr 30 min
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with non-stick or line with aluminum foil or a silicone sheet.
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Spread the tomatoes and eggplant (flesh side up), onion halves, leeks, shallots and garlic in a single layer on the lined baking sheet. Coat them lightly with the oil. Roast for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and browned in spots. (Some smaller pieces might be done sooner; remove from the oven earlier as necessary.)
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When all the vegetables are done, scoop out the flesh of the eggplant and transfer to a large, heavy saucepan. Add the remaining roasted vegetables and the thyme. Add the wine and 3 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until the onion is tender, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly.
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Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the cream, stirring to combine. Use more stock or broth to thin the soup, if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide among individual bowls. Sprinkle with goat cheese; serve warm.
Yield
Makes 6 servings
Per serving (using low-sodium broth, with the cheese garnish): 264 calories, 7 g protein, 14 g carbohydrates, 19 g fat, 51 mg cholesterol, 10 g saturated fat, 148 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber
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