Spiced Eggplant Soup | Recipe

Eggplant soup. Now there’s something I never thought was an option, until I came across it online. I read about how someone had a delicious spiced eggplant soup and instantly decided this was something I wanted to make. When I did, I was very pleasantly surprised. This is good! The soup is filling, warming, but light at the same time. The North African spices make it taste really exotic and wonderful. Plus, it’s one of those amazing “throw it all in a pot and walk away” recipes that us busy people love. Do give this one a try if you’re looking to taste something new!

Ingredients

2 eggplants
2 medium sized onions
4 cloves of garlic
500g passata (tomato puree)
400g canned lentils
1 liter vegetable stock
1 tbsp ras el hanout
Fresh coriander
Harissa

Start by finely dicing your onions and garlic. Sauté in a large pot with a drizzling of olive oil until the onion goes clear. Add the ras el hanout. This is a North African spice mix, meaning “the best from the shop”. Contents vary from region to region, or from store to store over here. If you can’t find a pre-mixed ras el hanout, there are loads of different recipes online so you can mix your own. My mix contains turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion, sugar, ginger, white pepper, liquorice, cinamon and cardamom.
Clean, dice and add the eggplants. Cook for about 5 minutes on a medium heat.
Add the passata and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 15/20 minutes. Afterwards drain and rinse the lentils, add them to the pot and cook for five more minutes. Serve with fresh chopped coriander and a dollop of harrisa (spicy pepper sauce) to taste.

You could blend this soup up, but I do like my soups a bit chunky. If you don’t blend it, just make sure to make the vegetables nice and small. This soup is so surprising, guys! I think it would work wonderfully if you added a sweet potato in there, and I’m sure the variations on this are endless. As always I’d like to encourage you to experiment with this basic recipe and add any ingredients you like. Enjoy!