Roasted Eggplant Soup

Alright, so August wasn't really soup weather but among the fruits n' veg I love most are fresh tomato and eggplant (avocado is also on this list). I can't remember if I found this recipe via pintrest (I re-checked my pins and didn't see it anyplace) or where, all I know is that the moment I saw it I had to make it and have it in my tummeh.

With the help of the farmers market and my husbands grandmothers garden - I assembled a few of the troops.

The farmers market only had fairy eggplants but no one had to twist my arm to get me to bring these beauties home.

I'd thought I'd bought enough tomatoes at the market but it seems I didn't. Luckily the day I decided to make the soup we'd payed ol' grand-ma-ma a visit and she sent me home with some of her delicious tomatoes! As well as a couple of the first leeks she's ever grown.

The recipe calls for your choice of vegetable or chicken stock. As much as I would have liked to buy some fresh stock - I was so tired after the farmers market and in such terrible need of a tank of gas I didn't feel like making it to the store I thought might possibly have some. Since this is a vegetable soup I thought it only best to use vegetable stock.

One of the awesome things about farmers markets it the ability to talk to people who have intimate knowledge of the products they are selling. With so many yummy looking goat cheese options I asked at the counter of one of my favourite shops which would go best with my soup. The man asked what ingredients were going into it, made his suggestion for which cheese would be best, and said the soup sounded delicious (let's hope that it will be.)

Once everything was roasted I scooped the insides out of the eggplants so that they could be put into the pot with everything else. I should mention my AC was on the fritz, it was the middle of August, and I was standing over a gas stove.

After a quick boil followed by a 45 minute simmer, bit by bit, into the blender it went

I wish I had an immersion blender . . .

When the blender was full and the soup pot was not yet empty, I poured it into a bowl to wait for the next step.

Back into the pot it went.

Then I added cream. Brought it to simmer (thew a little white truffle flour in there. Whisked away.) And put it into a container to cool off before being put in the fridge.

It was 11:30 at  night by the time I finished cooking. That doesn't include my wait time. I did make sure to take a quick taste of it with a bit of goat cheese. Just needed a little salt and pepper to taste but still pretty tasty!