Roasted Eggplant Soup
By Narayan • 17:03 on Monday, March 11, 2002 • Comment
This recipe is perfect on cold fall or winter days when you want something that will “warm you through your stomach.” Make it in large quantities and freeze it, but don’t keep it in the freezer more than a week or so (somehow the eggplant attains that “freezer taste” a little quicker than other veggies). If you can roast the vegetables on a sheet of foil in a closed grill with smokey wood chips, it makes this recipe absolutely astounding.
- 2 large eggplants
- Olive oil
- 6 scallions
- 1 1/2 cups water
- One 11 1/2 ounce can V-8 vegetable juice (add some bloody mary mix if you like things spicy)
- 1/2 cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley leaves
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- 1 small onion
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Plain yogurt or sour cream (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil. Cut off the bottom (the wide end) of the garlic so that you can see the cloves packed inside the skin. Rub some oilve oil over the exposed end and on the skin, and wrap completely in foil. Cut the onion in half and rub with oil. Sprinkle the eggplant and onion with a little salt (and a pinch of dried sage, if you have it).
- Roast the eggplants and garlic, cut side down on a baking sheet until very tender and well browned, about 30 min. Let them cool completely.
- Scoop out as much pulp as possible and place in a 4 to 5 qt. pot. Add the remaining ingredients, except the yogurt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool the soup slightly.
- Puree in batches in a blender, scraping down the sides as needed, until the soup reaches a porridge like consistency.
Serve hot, with some yogurt or sour cream and some chopped fresh parsley on top.