This post is excruciatingly belated – partly because I’m behind in blogging, and partly because I wanted to wait until the weather started to turn to post this recipe. Thanks to my husband, I’ve grown to really love and appreciate having soup for dinner. It makes great leftovers and is a satisfying meal; with my culinary ADD, the more veggies and herbs, the better! 🙂 Thus it’s now fall and I’m *finally* ready for soups and stews.

I came across this recipe back in August, when my CSA was chock-full of tomatoes and eggplant. Especially eggplant. I had a Sunday afternoon to play around in my kitchen, and I decided to make this soup ahead of time to freeze for cooler weather. I’m thankful that I did – this soup really hit the spot during our first chilly week up here!

Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Soup

adapted from Martha Stewart

• 3 pounds roma tomatoes,cored and cut in half
• 1/2 lb carrots, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
• 10 cloves garlic (cut it back a bit if you like)
• 4 tbsp
• salt & pepper
• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
• 2 tsp curry powder
• cilantro – for serving
• rustic bread – for serving

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees . Make sure that you have two racks in your oven, towards the middle.
2. On a baking sheet, toss together the tomatoes carrots, garlic, and half of the oil. Spread into a single layer and arrange the tomatoes with cut sides down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. On another baking sheet, toss together the eggplant, chickpeas, curry powder, and the rest of the oil. Spread in a single layer.
4. Place both sheets in oven, putting the tomato mixture on the higher rack. Roast until the veggies are tender for 45-50 minutes, tossing each mixture halfway through.
5. Remove baking sheets from oven. Using tongs, peel off the skins from the tomatoes & discard the skins. Transfer the tomato mixture into a large pot and puree with an immersion blender (if you don’t have one, use a food processor or blender). Thin with 2-3 cups of water; add eggplant mixture and continue to blend. Add an additional cup of water if desired.
6. Turn on heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with cilantro and with a side of crusty bread.

Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Soup

Because of the chickpeas, this soup is ridiculously filling – thus a little goes a long way! Since I had made it ahead of time and froze it, the soup was a snap to defrost and eat on a chilly Monday. The cilantro adds a nice touch to it, and of course we ate it with some fresh bread!

While the ingredients may be a little out of ordinary, they are all things that can be found in your local grocery store (or CSA). You could even save yourself the step of peeling tomatoes by using canned tomatoes; just roast the garlic with the chickpeas.

Oh yeah – I realized after the fact that this soup is also vegan! 🙂 So, hooray for a satisfying soup that is filling, nutritious, and contains no animal products whatsoever (even though we all know that I am borderline meatatarian). Try this – you won’t be disappointed!