Imperfectly Delicious – Recipe: Roasted Eggplant Soup with Tomato

When you decide to try a new recipe, encounter multiple setbacks along the way, and find the end result tastes amazing despite the odds against it, you know you’ve stumbled onto something special.

Such is my experience with this Roasted Eggplant Soup.

Not a fan of eggplant you say, much less in soup?

I hear you. I wasn’t a huge fan until the last few years myself.

Developed a take it or leave it attitude about soup in general?

I get tired of the same old, same old too. There’s nothing worse than boring—you won’t find that here.

Fear a recipe can’t turn out great if you’re missing 1 key piece of equipment?

Well, I made it anyway—throwing caution to the wind. Moral of the story? Don’t be afraid to take chances, especially in the kitchen. You might be pleasantly surprised.

So, how many setbacks did I encounter with this recipe?

Plenty. And believe me, enough minor setbacks can deter your efforts in the kitchen as much as encountering a major one.

The scary thing is, I thought I was prepared.

I read through the recipe a couple of times before beginning. I double checked my pantry and fridge for all the necessary ingredients. Check, check, check…down the list I went. All of it was there. I was so happy, I even had the (optional) heavy cream.

But sometimes I get more distracted than I realize. Motherhood, compounded by a lack of sleep, can do that to a person.

The setbacks started innocently enough, with not being able to find my roasting pan for the eggplant. How, exactly, I have misplaced an entire roasting pan is beyond me, but I have obviously done so.

Before I knew it, I was searching high and low, scouring the upper and lower cabinets as if a leprechaun had told me his pot of gold were stashed inside my cupboards. Darn the rainbows anyway.

In the end, my tummy growled and I gave up the hunt prematurely. I resigned myself to creating a makeshift roaster out of a jelly roll pan, a wire cooling rack and parchment paper to catch the drips.

Don’t snicker.

It was my MacGyver moment, and my roasted eggplant came out like a charm.

Things went from bad to worse when halfway through making this soup I realized I don’t own an immersion blender. After all these years in a kitchen, how can I NOT own an immersion blender? And how could I have missed that in the recipe? Think, think, think…what would MacGyver do?

I will tell you this much: do not resort to using a hand mixer, even on low speed, no matter how careful and cognizant of the situation you are. There’s a reason the recipe calls for an “immersion blender.” Take heed. Try a large food processor if you are desperate, or skip it all together. But I repeat: a hand mixer is NOT a viable substitute for an immersion blender. (A quality,immersion blender is now listed in my Amazon store. You can check it out here.)

My last and final (momentary) setback with this soup? Deciding how, as well as if, to pre-soak the 1/2 cup of gray lentils for which this recipes calls.

Gray lentils (mind you, are actually more khaki or brown), are milder (i.e. less peppery) than the delicious French (green) variety and take less time to cook. With that in mind, I decided it would best to merely sort and rinse the lentils in warm water before adding them to this soup.

I am happy to report that skipping the soaking process (which I later discovered is perfectly acceptable practice with lentils), caused me no problems in the following recipe. The lentils cooked to perfection in about 20 minutes.

(For additional information on cooking lentils, including tips for avoiding gas when cooking and soaking beans in general, check out Kathy Maister’s article (and subsequent comment section) entitled Lentils at StartCooking.com. It’s a wealth of information.)

With those few caveats out of the way, it’s time to get to why you should be making this soup, despite my setbacks:

1. It has a fabulous flavor, consistency (given it wasn’t pureed with an immersion blender) and surprisingly high satisfaction level. Believe it or not, this soup will fill up the heartiest of appetites and had everyone requesting seconds, and even thirds. FYI—my table consisted of, on this particular evening, some seriously finicky eaters.
2. The roasted eggplant puree acts as a tremendous carrier, allowing other flavors in this recipe to shine through—namely cumin and cilantro, both of which I love. I think you will too.
3. This recipe is a nice change of pace from the more traditional soups and is delightfully easy to make. In fact, as soon as I find my roasting pan I’ll be making this soup again (sans immersion blender).
4. The dollop of freshly whipped cream (used as a garnish) adds an nice, inviting creaminess to this soup. But be forewarned: the heat from the soup makes it melt rather quickly, so expect it to spread.

What do you say? Ready to give this imperfectly delicious soup a whirl for your next luscious lunch?

Roasted Eggplant Soup with Tomato

(recipe adapted from The Tante Marie’s Cooking School Cookbook, by Mary Risley)

What you’ll need:

• 2 large eggplants, approximately 1 pound each
• 2 medium-size onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
• coarse salt
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (plus more to taste)
• 1/2 cup gray (not French) lentils
• 1 (32 ounce) box of chicken or vegetable stock (I used vegetable)
• 2 tablespoons minced, fresh cilantro
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (optional, but recommended for garnish)
• 2 red, ripe tomatoes, diced (optional, but recommended for garnish)

Assembly

Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and place them (cut side down) on a lightly oiled roasting pan. Bake in a 400 degree F oven until completely soft, approximately 20 minutes.

When eggplants have cooled enough to be handled, peel and discard the skin. Squeeze the eggplants to release as much water as possible, removing excess seeds as necessary. Chop the eggplants to a medium coarseness. Set aside.

To make the soup, cook the onions with 1/2 teaspoon salt in the olive oil in a medium stock pot over medium-high heat. Continue cooking and stirring until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the cumin and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in the chopped eggplant, lentils and stock. Simmer until the lentils are soft, about 15 minutes.

When lentils are soft, puree the soup with an immersion blender. Add more water as necessary to make the soup a pourable consistency (I skipped this step, preferring my soup thicker). Add half of the cilantro, the lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly whip the heavy cream in a small bowl with whisk or hand mixer until it just holds its shape when lifted.

Serve the soup in warm bowls, and garnish with a dollop of the whipped cream, the diced tomatoes, and remaining cilantro.

Serves approximately 4-6.

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