Mediterranean Thai Eggplant White Bean Soup

This is the first of my Pantry Challenge recipes. I am making a dish from whatever I have at home already - those ingredients which are "just waiting around." This soup came out quite nicely, with a great texture and a wonderfully creamy and rich taste! The leftovers didn't last long, either... hubby and I ended up "fighting" over who got the last bit. :)

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1  large globe eggplant, divided
• 1  medium yellow onion, divided
• 2  teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2  scallions, chopped and divided
• 1 (15 ounce) can white beans, divided
• 1⁄4 cup fresh basil, chopped and divided
• 1⁄4 cup  red pepper, diced & roasted
• 1 (15 ounce) can coconut milk
• 1  cup vegetable broth or 1  cup chicken broth
• 1  tablespoon dry sherry
• 1  teaspoon soy sauce or 2  teaspoons  Braggs liquid aminos
• 1  teaspoon fish sauce (optional if you don't have it, but it adds nice flavor)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the ends off the eggplant then cut the eggplant lengthwise.
3. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay the eggplant pieces cut-side-down on the sheet; bake the eggplant in the oven for 45 minutes.
4. While eggplant is baking, grate half of the onion (you want the grated texture and intense flavor of the onion juice without the chopped texture) and chop the other half.
5. When the eggplant is done, take one half and simply scoop out the soft inner parts; the other half you want to cut into chunky cubes (you can leave the peel on or not- it's up to you- but I removed it); turn off the oven.
6. In a food processor, put half of the white beans, half of the chopped basil, the chopped onion (not the grated half), the garlic, half of the chopped scallions, and the half of the eggplant that you scooped out; whir the mixture until it is smooth.
7. Put the processed mixture in a crockpot and add the remaining ingredients (including the other half of the divided items), and heat on low for 2 hours; alternately you could simmer it on the stove for 30 minutes.
8. This is a very rich-tasting soup, so smallish servings can be a good idea.