Roasted eggplant and tomato soup

Cold, wet weather requires soups with a bit of heat.  Of course, we're still full on the summery vegetables (or rather botanical fruits culinary vegetables) here in central Maryland - and we had a lot of eggplant and peppers to use up, but ratatouille or pasta just didn't seem right on a day that required fleece jackets and rain boots.  I was also in the mood for something flavorful, but still kid-friendly, without requiring twenty pots on the stove in addition to the soup pot.  So I preheated the oven, got to work with a vegetable peeler, and listened to the rain pounding on the roof.  If I lacked the kids, I would have added a seeded chile pepper of some type.  If my husband lacked me, he would have added two, with seeds intact.  Take from that what you will.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized traditional eggplant, peeled and cubed

5 Roma or paste tomatoes, peeled with a vegetable peeler (I swear this works)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon cloves

 2 bay leaves

4 cups vegetable stock

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Toss eggplant, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt into a roasting pan, combine well.

Roast botanical fruit culinary vegetables until very soft and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Sweat garlic and onion in remaining olive oil in large stock pot over medium-low heat until translucent.

Add cumin, coriander,  cayenne pepper, cloves, and bay leaves.  Increase heat to medium high, fry spices 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.

Add roasted eggplant and tomatoes.  

Stir and let cook down 1 minute.

Add stock and bring to a boil.

Let soup simmer 15 minutes.

Remove bay leaves.

Blend with an immersion stick blender, food mill, or blender working in batches.

Serve hot.