Pasta Alla Norma is a classic Sicilian pasta dish featuring fried eggplant garnished with Ricotta cheese and red pepper flakes. This tomato and eggplant soup offers a different way to experience flavors of this traditional Sicilian dish without consuming pasta. If you have an outdoor grill (and are up for the task), smoking the tomatoes with wood chips is a way to elevate the tomato flavor. Alternatively, oven-roasting the tomatoes with liquid smoke is the next-best way to experience that char-grilled smokiness indoors.
Being of part Sicilian descent from my birth-mom’s father, I was always super interested in learning what those ancestors ate throughout history. Little did I know, I had previously created something kinda Sicilian-ish when I combined tomato and eggplant in an attempt to add a little “something extra” to a basic tomato soup recipe. Eggplant is very Sicilian, and to make this soup even more so, I added a dollop of ricotta cheese upon serving. Then, a garnish of red pepper flakes is something I do by habit as a spicy food lover, which also aligns with Sicilian cooking.
Either use two medium-sized eggplants, or try an equivalent amount of baby eggplants. These were cooked over a charcoal grill, but you can also do it in an over, or on a pan over stovetop.
So, lets talk soup consistency. When puréed, roasted eggplant becomes creamy and acts as a thickener. For that reason, puree the eggplant separately, then add it gradually to your liking so you can control the soup texture. Also, plan to have more vegetable stock on hand than anticipated, so you end up with a soup instead of something resembling a pasta sauce. I have added up to 6 cups of veggie stock at times if I’m in the mood for a thinner soup. Keep in mind that if you keep adding stock to thin out your soup, you need to add an equal amount of salt and herbs so it stays adequately seasoned.
Once tomatoes are smoked, remove the skins can, then cut out the cores with a paring knife. Use the leftover parts of the eggplant and tomatoes in a veggie stock to extract as much flavor as possible. Nothing goes unused.
Sicilian Tomato Eggplant Soup
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
- 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 hickory wood chips in a bowl of water.
- 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 with the vegetable stock.
- 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.
- 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 on a grill basket in one layer. If using your oven, add the liquid smoke to the olive oil and arrange the tomatoes and garlic in a flat foil-lined pan.
- In your grill, spread the soaked wood chips over the hot charcoal and let the smoke emerge. Grill the tomatoes and 5 cloves of 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, then remove the tomatoes once the skins are falling off and they are no longer firm to touch.
- If doing this in the oven, roast the tomatoes and garlic about 30 minutes, or until they brown slightly and the skin begin to fall off. Flip them once while roasting.
- Once cooled enough to handle, remove the tomato cores with a paring knife and discard the skins. They should come off rather easily. Purée the mixture in a blender.
- Finely dice the onion. In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté the onion, remaining 5 cloves of garlic, parsley, and oregano in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomato paste, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Stir in the puréed tomato and eggplant mixture and vegetable stock. Bring this to a boil for a couple minutes, then turn the heat off. Allow this to cool enough so it’s just warm, in preparation for puréeing in a blender. DO NOT put piping-hot soup in a blender, otherwise it will explode. Purée the cooled down soup in a blender, only fill it half-way. Transfer the puréed soup into a large bowl.
- 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
