Ciao, ragazzi. Well, it is in fact that time of year: the peaches aren't as sunny as they were, the tomatoes not as juicy, and the grapes, the pears, the pumpkins, are all showing up in the market. Yes, we are at transition. As Annalena gets older, these seem to be harder: are these the last tomatoes she'll see? Is this the last pot of ratatouille? And so on. It is hard not to get melancholy, even as the wonderful apples come in, the wonderful squashes, etc. She finds herself thinking on themes that were put away for a while. And they're here.
And what inspired them? Well, Annalena went out to shop for this soup, assuming that she'd have no problem finding a big, fat 3 pound eggplant for the dish.
Nope. Not enough sun and too much rain last week. There were SMALLER eggplants, and that turned into a blessing, and Annalena learned something. BUT... there is always the kind of shock when what you expected to be there, is not. Yes, you get used to it, but you really don't.
Ah, enough philosophy, and more cooking. This recipe was provided some years ago by the great chef David Tanis. Annalena has changed some of it, and brings it to you.
Eggplant is, ultimately, a very delicate vegetable. "Delicate" in the sense of flavor, among other things. Were you to taste a bit of it raw, you'd get little. Cooking concentrates its flavor, but you are never going to get something like cabbage, or broccoli, when eating eggplant, tesorini. So choose your flavors well, and think of the eggplant as a vehicle for other things.
To make this soup, you need 3 pounds of eggplants. As Annalena learned, getting 12-16 ounce eggplants is better. You may THINK it means more work in the next step, but Annalena will explain.
First, you need to fire roast these eggplants. And you do that by turning up the flame on your stove burners, and roasting the eggplant directly:
(Forget the pepper for today: Annalena was making something else). Keep moving the eggplant as it blackens, until you have it covered, pretty much completely. The smaller eggplants took MUCH less time, and made much less mess, than did the larger ones Annalena has worked with before. Eventually you will have 5-6 eggplants like so:
These are VERY hot right now. You may want to put them in a plastic bag to cool (it seems to loosen the skin), but you don't have to. When they are cool enough to not burn your fingers, peel them , trying not to use water to do so:
Then, chop these fellas up roughly:
Put them aside, and get to work slicing three onions. No dicing or fancy work necessary, just slice them:
Put these into a big soup pot, with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and at medium heat, let them cook for about 5 minutes. You want them to soften, and brown every so slightly:
While this is happening, peel and dice the cloves of a whole bulb of garlic:
Email or leave a comment for Annalena and she'll give you tips on how to peel that much garlic. It is actually fun.
Meanwhile you want to collect your spices:
You will need a teaspoon of cayenne, and a tablespoon of za'atar. Take a minute to google za'atar if you don't know it, ragazzi. And then ask around, and get a variety that sounds good to you. A tablespoon will seem like a lot of spice, but eggplant, as we know, does not have strong flavor.
You will add the eggplant, the spices, and the garlic to those softened onions, and cook for a short time: maybe about 3 minutes. You don't need much time, because you already cooked the eggplant (remember?), and we are going to be adding liquid and in fact almost "braising" these vegetables some more.
At this point, we need to make a decision, on our liquid. We reiterate how mild eggplant is, and decide NOT to use chicken stock. On the other hand, water seems too mild, and "Easter broth," that wonderful creation born out of cheese rind, root vegetables, and water, isn't cutting it. Annalena had, what is essentially hoity toity tomato juice:
This is three cups. You need six. So she diluted it. So if you have tomato juice, or tomato puree, or something like that, Annalena suggest you dilute it 50% with water, and pour that into the pot. Let this simmer, gently, for ten minutes:
To be honest, Annalena would eat this soup, as it is. BUT.... if you let it cool, and puree it , you get a soup which eggplant detractors feel looks like oatmeal, and the rest of us love:
Now, again, this is mild. So Annalena squeezes a full lemon into it. You can add more, and you may want to put in some more olive oil. You may want to eat this cold, with a spoonful of sour cream, or mascarpone. Annalena likes it hot, with a crostini or two at the side.
As we head out of our summer, please use the vegetables we won't see for a while, as often as you can.
Annalena leaves you this time, with one of her favorite songs about the idea of leaving summer, or summer leaving:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idXLnuCsirg. P.S. Stevie Wonder has a wonderful version as well.
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