This soup tastes like summer! While the recipe calls for eggplant, I didn’t have any on hand so I skipped it and added more zucchini. If you like ratatouille you will love this soup.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 – 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1 small Japanese eggplant, diced (I omitted)
1 small zucchini, diced (I used 2 small to medium zucchini)
1 yellow bell pepper, diced (I used red bell pepper instead)
1 28 ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed (I just used about 14 oz of already crushed tomatoes and added about a cup of water)
2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
Large handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Cheese toasts for topping:
Brush slices of French baguette or similar with olive oil; sprinkle with herbes de Provence and broil until lightly toasted. Top with grated gruyere or swiss cheese.
Preparation:
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft; Add the herbes de Provence and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until just softened (5–10 minutes). Add the tomatoes and their juices, the broth and half of the basil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
Puree about half the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender and return to the pot. (Note: I preferred the texture and appearance of the soup after blending so blended all of the soup)
Ladle soup into bowls and top with cheese toasts and remaining basil. You can also freeze this soup.
Photo: Victoria Shes