Recipe: Roasted Provencal Vegetable Soup

Roasted Provencal Vegetable Soup
From: Look & Cook Splendid Soups by Anne Willan
Servings: 6

1 eggplant
2 large zucchini
1 large red bell pepper
1/2 pound plum tomatoes
salt and pepper
olive oil
4 large shallots
4 cloves garlic
2 stems fresh oregano
5 stems fresh basil
1 quart chicken stock
1/2 lemon

Trim the eggplant and cut lengthwise in half. Score the flesh in a lattice, cutting almost to the skin. Set the eggplant, cut side up, and sprinkle generously with salt. Let stand 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously brush a roasting pan with olive oil. Arrange the eggplant halves on the pan.

Cut the zucchini lengthwise in half and set them, cut side down, in the roasting pan. Core, halve and seed the red pepper. Place the halves, cut side down, in the roasting pan.

Brush the surfaces of the vegetables with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Bake the vegetables in the preheated oven 25 minutes.

Add the plum tomatoes to the pan with the shallots and garlic. Roast the vegetables until they are all soft, about 25 minutes longer, then remove from the oven. Cool.

Meanwhile, strip the leaves from the oregano and basil, reserving six basil leaves for garnish. Coarsely chop the leaves.

When the roast vegetables are cool enough to handle, squeeze the pulp from the shallots and garlic into a food processor. Cut the zucchini into chunks, add to the food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan.

Scoop the flesh from the eggplant halves and put it into the food processor.

With a small knife, peel the skin from the bell pepper halves. Cut the flesh into chunks and add to the processor.

Slip the skins off the tomatoes. Cut each tomato in half and squeeze out the seeds. Add the tomato halves to the food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to the saucepan.

Stir in chicken stock, lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper and half of the basil and bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes.

Serve hot, topped with the remaining chopped basil and reserved whole leaves.