Pasta Alla Norma is a classic Sicilian dish consisting of ziti with a tomato and eggplant sauce. Ricotta cheese is also added with a hint of red pepper flakes. But if you’re looking to cut down on carbs, then this tomato eggplant soup is a fantastic way to experience its flavors without having to consume pasta. Introducing some smoke flavor to the tomatoes makes this recipe really rustic. If you have an outdoor grill (and are up for the task), smoking the tomatoes with wood chips is the way to go. Otherwise, roasting the tomatoes in liquid smoke can create the next best smoking effect.
This recipe is a spin on the Smoked Tomato and Eggplant Soup I posted a couple years ago, and here’s how it happened. Being of part Sicilian descent, I was always super interested in heritage cooking. Knowing what our ancestors ate throughout history is something that I think every home cook or chef is naturally curious about. Well … I know am! Little did I know, that I had previously created something kinda Sicilian-ish when I combined tomato and eggplant in the original soup recipe. It utilized some non-Sicilian ingredients such as thyme, bay leaf, and Swiss Gruyere cheese toast. Therefore, for my heritage cooking recipe, I only had to swap out a few ingredients and add a dollop of ricotta cheese upon serving.
Keep in mind that thickness can become an issue with tomato eggplant soup, due to the use of eggplant. When puréed, roasted eggplant can become almost cream-like. For that reason, you can purée the eggplant separately and add it at your discretion. Also, prepare more vegetable stock than anticipated. Upon recipe testing, I initially recommended 4 cups, and that works just fine on occasion. But I have added up to 6 cups at times, especially if I’m in the mood for a thinner soup. However, keep in mind that if you add stock to thin it out, you need to add an equal amount of salt and herbs.
Either use two medium-sized eggplants, or try an equivalent amount of baby eggplants.
Ingredients
- 12 vine tomatoes
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium sized eggplants
- 2 sweet Vidalia onions
- 1/4 cup chopped oregano
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 4–6 cups vegetable stock
- ricotta cheese as needed for serving
- olive oil as needed
- kosher salt to taste
- liquid smoke (if not using a grill)
- ricotta cheese as needed for serving
- red pepper flakes for garnish
Instructions for tomato soup
1. Clean and prepare a small charcoal grill. Arrange lit coals into one layer and cover it with the lid ajar so the grill reach a suitable temperature. Soak a handful of wood chips (I like to use mesquite) in a bowl of water.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, peel the eggplants and trim off the ends. In a large pot simmer the eggplant peels and ends in the vegetable stock.
4. Cut eggplant into small cubes. In a medium bowl, coat them with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. Spread the eggplant out on a foil-lined baking tray. Roast the eggplant in the oven until slightly browned – about 30 minutes – then set aside.
Roasted eggplant fresh out of the oven.
5a. If using a grill, in a large bowl, coat the tomatoes and garlic with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Arrange tomatoes and garlic in a grill basket in one layer.
5b. If using your oven, add the liquid smoke to the olive oil. Arrange the tomatoes in a flat foil-lined pan.
6a. In your grill, spread the soaked wood chips over the hot charcoal and let the smoke emerge. Grill the tomatoes and garlic with the cover on and vent open, flipping each once their exteriors are blistered. Remove the garlic cloves once they’re browned on both sides. Remove the tomatoes once the skins are falling off and they are no longer firm to touch.
6b. If doing this in the oven, skip the wood chips of course. Roast the liquid smoke coated tomatoes and garlic about 30 minutes, or until they brown slightly and the skin begin to fall off. Flip them once while roasting. Sometimes I use the broiler.
7. Core the cooked tomatoes with a small paring knife and remove the skins by hand, they should come off rather easily. Purée the tomatoes, 5 cloves of garlic, and eggplant in a food processor.
8. Finely dice the onion and 5 cloves of garlic. In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté the onion, garlic, parsley, oregano in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomato paste and basil, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Continue to cook this until the tomato paste turns deep red in color.
9. Add the puréed tomato and eggplant mixture and vegetable stock and stir thoroughly. Bring this to a boil for a couple minutes, then turn the heat off. Allow this to cool enough so it’s luke warm, in prepearation for puréeing in a blender. DO NOT put hot soup in a blender, otherwise it will explode. In batches, purée the cooled down soup in a blender, only fill it half way. Transfer the puréed soup into a large bowl.
10. Once all soup is puréed, return it to the stovetop and simmer for another 30 minutes, adjusting salt seasoning as needed. Serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese and red pepper flakes.
YIELD: about 8 servings
