Roasted Eggplant and Mushroom Soup

Soup during summer isn't so bad. Just not on days when it is extremely hot and humid. Several days ago, the weather almost seemed like autumn was giving us a sneak peak. I couldn't resist making myself some soup and a little sneaky peak at what I'll be trying to dish up when the season changes.

Soup it was. But what kink of soup? I rummage through the vegetable compartment of the fridge and find myself some long eggplant. Yes, I think that's what I'll make. I still have several cans of veggie and chicken broth from a sale at the grocery. I chose the veggie broth. Keeping this one vegetarian. For the non-veggies, you can use chicken broth, if you'd like. A small can of evaporated milk and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. (One regular tomato would suffice.) I was missing a couple other ingredients, so I made a quick field trip to Whole Food. Walk through the produce section and grab myself a nice BIG onion. I could use the other portions I won't use for another dish. I pass by the mushrooms and grab myself some prepacked sliced white mushrooms. A nice addition to the soup. I round the aisles and get a few more non-soup items, pay for them and head home to make the meal.

I'm one of those who doesn't like soups to be all watery liquid. Don't get me wrong, I still like them, but I prefer them to have some type of chunky subtance if it's going to be that consistency. So I get home, roast the eggplants for in the broiler, then scoop out the meat from the skins. I chop up the mushrooms, pop open cans and begin cooking.

Once I got everything together, I couldn't wait to eat. I oven-toasted some sandwich rolls that I spread some freshly made basil oil. Ladled the soup and chunky bits and enjoyed an autumn dinner.

Serves 2-3.



Roasted Eggplant and Mushroom Soup

2 medium long eggplant
1 12oz can vegetable broth
1 1/2 c chopped white mushrooms
1 medium tomato - chopped and deseeded or 1/2 can tomato chunks - minus juices)
3 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 medium sweet onion - sliced
1 5 oz can evaporated milk
salt
pepper
olive oil

Preheat your oven to 425˚F

Cut the eggplants length-wise and coat all sides with olive oil. Roast for 30 min until slightly brown on top. When roasted remove from oven and let cool for 5 min before handling. Scoop the meat of the eggplants out discard the skins.

While the eggplants are roasting prepare the vegetables.

Put a light drizzle of olive oil in a pot. Saute the garlic for 30 sec, then add the onions. Suate them until they are limp and translucent. Then add the chopped mushrooms. Cook until slightly browned. Season it lightly with some salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes and eggplants. Stir occaionally.

Finally, add the chicken broth, then the evaporated milk. Stir to combine and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add more salt, if needed. Turn off the heat and serve.