Roasted Eggplant and Bell Pepper Soup

Submitted by Engrossed

"Adapted from: "Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen". "This soup can be served hot, tepid, or chilled-- its flavors perhaps optimal at room temperature. It won't win any beauty contests--eggplant makes everything a bit dull looking--but leaving some texture in the soup helps, along with the swirl of yogurt and a perfect sprig or two of cilantro. In any case, the flavors will win kudos, and that's what counts.""

 

• Ready In: 1hr 45mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Yields: 2 quarts
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 lb eggplant, cut into large chunks (preferably small lighter-skinned varieties)
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into large chunks
• 1 large onion, cut into large chunks
• 4 tomatoes, cut into large chunks (about 1 pound)
• 5 fresh garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 oregano sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• sea salt, to taste
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 slices gingerroot, freshly peeled and thinly sliced
• 6 cups water
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large lime, juice of
• 1 cup yogurt (such as Pavels, a thin whole-milk yogurt)
• fresh cilantro stem, to garnish

directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Toss eggplant, peppers, onion, tomatoes, garlic, herbs, oil and salt together.
3. Place in a large baking dish. Roast until browned and fragrant, about 1 hour, turning 2-3 times while they're roasting.
4. Transfer roasted vegetables to a soup pot.
5. Add 1 cup water to the dish they baked in, scrape up the caramelized juices, and add to pot along with cumin and ginger.
6. Pour in another 6 cups water, the cilantro, and 1/2 tsp salt.
7. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are fully tender, 20 minutes or so.
8. Let cool slightly, then puree, leaving a little texture. I would use an immersion blender here.
9. Stir in the lime juice and pour into serving bowl.
10. Swirl in the yogurt.
11. Serve garnished with sprigs of cilantro.

Reviews

[MechanicalJen]

This smelled fantastic while roasting - however something got lost in the translation to soup form. It didn't seem to have a lot of flavor - I added crushed red pepper, black pepper and parmesan. This seemed to improve it but it still needs tweaking. Glad I tried. Thanks!

 

[najwa]

Excellent! I used half chicken stock and half water, and peeled the eggplant, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. In my opinion, it is a very pretty eggplant soup. It is light colored and appetizing, unlike some lentil soups I've seen. I wish I took a picture but I didn't. This is great for a dinner party as well! Thanks for a great recipe, this one will be repeated many times!