Smokin' Aubergine

6 January 2018. My dining partner had just arrived and we needed something rich and healthy for lunch the next day. On the player was more Neil Diamond; this time the edgy and quasi-cool, for him, 1976 album "Beautiful Noise". As an eight year old at junior school I remember quoting a lyric from the title track at my class teacher; she was not impressed and promptly went off on maternity leave.

It was a soup that we needed for our Sunday lunch in order to warm us up after a morning walk that was likely to be chilly.

The ingredients were as follows:

2 Diced Shallots that I had first, topped, tailed and peeled.
1 Aubergine Cut in half with the top removed.
2 Cloves of Garlic sliced finely after being topped, tailed and peeled.
A teaspoon of Caraway Seeds
A teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
3 Halved Tomatoes

The method was as follows:

1. Spread the ingredients evenly throughout a high-sided and greased Pyrex Dish.

2. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes on Gas Mark 6.

3. Remove from the oven and leave overnight on the worktop. This allows the ingredients to infuse with each other.

4. The next morning blend with a quarter of a pint Almond Milk.

5. Return to my Le Cresceut and warm it through for five minutes on a medium heat.

I served the soup in bowls and topped them with some Chickpea based Smoked flavour snacks that my dining partner had sourced from the local budget supermarket. They did nothing but add an extra dimension to the taste of the soup.

We consumed the soup after a very icy walk and found that the soup was one that had , thanks in part to the Caraway Seeds, a smoky, rich and earthy flavour that went well with the weather and the terrain we had encountered on the walk.

Soup Triangle- the Chickpea based snacks made the soup a little more aesthetically pleasing, and tasty.