Roasted Eggplant and Carrot Soup
When the veggies are aging.....
Sometimes the things you pick up at the farmers market or store get overlooked in the fridge, or life gets in the way. Life was the culprit this past week, and we returned from an unexpected weekend trip out of town to be reminded that there were 2 eggplants and about a dozen or so carrots quickly aging. This soup worked out well. Lots of variations possible (skip eggplant, just carrots, or omit the béchamel step, or omit the 1/2 and 1/2, etc.).
Ingredients
2 eggplant
Dozen or so carrots
1 head of garlic
4 tbl butter
3 tbl flour
1/2 cup of half and half (or full cup of milk)
3 cups of stock of choice (I used veggie)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Steps
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Prepare 2 baking pans/sheets with parchment paper (or not, if you like to scrub pans)
Slice eggplants lengthwise. Coat each half with olive oil, both cut and skin side.
Sprinkle cut side with a generous amount of pepper and salt, then place cut side down on one of the prepared pans.
Slice carrots lengthwise, coat with olive oil, and a generous amount of pepper and salt. Place in the other pan.
Slice of the top 1/4 of the garlic head. Place cut side up in the pan with the carrots, and generously and slowly pour olive oil over the cut side.
Place both pans in the oven. Roast the eggplants until very soft, 25-35 minutes, and the carrots with garlic until the carrots are also very soft, likely 10-15 more minutes.
The above steps can be done up to a day in advance, or…..
Once there is about 10 minutes or so left in the roasting of the veggies, melt the butter in a large stock pot over a medium low heat.
While the butter is melting, heat the milk or 1/2 and 1/2 with 1 cup of the stock. A quick 2 minute shot in the microwave works wonders, or heat on top of the oven in a small pan until almost simmering.
Once the butter has melted, but not browned, sprinkle in all of the flour, turn the heat up to just above medium, and whisk for about 2 minutes. You want all the flour to cook just a bit to remove the raw flour taste. You do not want the flour to brown (making a roux), but that would also not be the worst thing in the world.
Slowly pour in about 1/4 cup of the heated dairy and stock mixture. Whisk until fully incorporated, and then keep adding a bit more of the dairy/stock mixture in 1/4 cups or less, whisking vigorously. The goal here is to have the butter fat and flour globules fully absorb the hot mixture.
Once the dairy mixture has been fully incorporated, add the rest of the stock. Whisk again until combined. If the veggies still need more time, reduce to a very low heat until veggies are done.
Add veggies to the mixture. You may choose to scoop the flesh out of the eggplant and avoid including the skins. Or you can include them. Up to you.
Bring the veggie and stock mixture to a gentle simmer.
Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the soup.
Blend with an immersion blender or in your implement of destruction of choice. A potato rice would work the triceps a bit and generate a slightly more rustic touch.
Check for levels of salt or pepper.
Add more stock if too thick.
Serve. You could top with a drizzle of olive oil, a bit of hot pepper sauce, some fried sage leaves, or just as is.