This was cooked for us at our most recent Mill City Cooks live chef demo by Market Chef Beth Jones!
Summer Vegetable Soup with Garlic Crostini
By Beth Jones
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, medium dice
- 2 large carrots, cut into ¼ inch thick coins
- 2 ribs celery, cut diagonally into ¼ inch thick pieces
- 4 small Japanese eggplants, cut into ½ inch coins
- 2 pounds fresh tomatoes, (any color or size!) large dice
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch of chili flakes, optional
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 4-5 cups vegetable stock
- ½ cup fresh basil, chiffonade
For the bread:
- Bread of your choosing, sliced
- Garlic cloves, halved
- Olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed stock pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute 3 minutes.
- Add the carrots and celery and saute until nicely browned.
- Add the eggplant, tomatoes, thyme, garlic and salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining dried spices, tomato paste, vinegar and enough vegetable stock to cover the ingredients. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the chopped kale and simmer until wilted.
- Adjust the seasonings as you like, and stir in the fresh basil just before serving. This soup is delicious with grilled bread drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, and rubbed with half a clove of fresh garlic.
