Like a tool, I never took a final picture of this soup in a bowl.
News flash. Eggplants are impossible to find in LA. Or were last week, at least. Let me paint this picture for you…
Two Sundays ago, I was lounging on my couch making my grocery list for the week, awaiting to spend the day eating a shellfish feast. Upon flipping through my soup cookbook I stopped at the Eggplant Parmesan Soup page. I had often lingered here, trying to imagine the taste of this soup on my tongue, and if it was a taste I wanted in my life all week. I decided this was the week for it. I added the ingredients to my already long list of things to purchase.
Then Monday happened. I spent the day at work imagining how hearty and delicious this soup was going to be. I could almost taste the eggplant!
I got to Ralph’s, the man who owns the most prominent grocery store chain in LA, and put every effing ingredient on my list in my cart, saving eggplant for the end. Then I experienced what I could only describe as a “I Know What You Did Last Summer” moment. I literally spun around in the middle of the produce section in horror. Not only did I LOOK like a crazy person, I was also heavily cursing audibly. After a couple laps with some serious head jerking, I finally decided to ask someone if I was completely losing my mind. In this instance, thankfully, I was not.
I was told that LA usually gets their eggplants shipped from Mexico. Apparently Mexico had a serious freeze and they had to completely replant these eggplants I had so taken for granted. The man, point blank, told me you cannot find them anywhere in LA. He then proceeded to correct himself and say he spoke to a customer who said they found rather small and crappy looking eggplants for $3/ lb somewhere. And that was when my heart sank. In retrospect, after telling my sister this story, I should have visited my local Asian Market, in hopes that their guile would allow me this now precious vegetable. But let’s be real here. It was rush hour in LA, and I was at a grocery store that was 5 blocks from my apartment. That was not going to happen.
So in this moment of panic I looked around the produce department and starting thinking of a replacement. This was my last thing to buy and my cart was packed with 4 different recipes worth of items. I was in no place to put back what I needed for this soup. I went back and forth between zucchini and cauliflower. Then I called my mom.
With her advice, my Eggplan Parmesan Soup was about to become Zucchini Parmesan Soup. This was a very important moment for me because it reminded me that I don’t always have to follow directions exactly. Ever since I’ve been taking liberties here and there, so thank you eggplant freeze.
And with that incredibly long winded introduction, I give you Zucchini Parmesan Soup!
As always, this being a vegetable soup, you’ve got to make your stock. Chop 3 carrots, 2 leeks, 2 stalks of celery, an onion, and throw in a couple of garlic cloves into 12 cups of water. Then whip out your cheesecloth and tie up 1 bay leaf, 1 spring of thyme, and some fresh parsley. Mix in 1/3 cup of white wine. And add a little salt and pepper for good measure. Bring all this to a boil and let simmer for at least 30 min.
While this is rumbling away, I like to take this opportunity to prep for the rest of the recipe. For this particular soup, you’re going to need the following:
- 3 lbs of zucchini (roughly 6, and I used both green and summer squash)
- 3 fresh tomatoes
- 2 tbs butter
- 1 onion
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1/4 tbs of cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 24 oz can of whole tomatoes
- 8 cups of vegetable stock
- 3 inch parmesan rind- which I totally botched
- 1 large bunch of basil
- 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese- I used more!
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
And away we go. Take half of your zucchini and chop it into 1 inch squares. Then cut the remaining in half. Throw these on a baking tray. Chop your fresh tomatoes and add as well. Kick on your broiler and put your pan on a lower shelf in the oven for 20 minutes. Be sure to flip the zucchini halves once during this process.
When those are done, put all your cubes to the side and let the halves cool. When cool enough to finger (hehe) scoop at all the guts and add to a food processor. When you’ve properly cleaned them out, puree those mothers until they’re pasty.
Toss that butter into your stock pot and melt. Add chopped celery and onion and let it sweat for a few minutes. Then add the cayenne pepper, thyme, and bay leaves (a combination I’m noticing a lot in this cookbook that I’m slowly falling in love with).
Coat the vegetables and then add the cubed zucchini, tomatoes, and stock. Bring that to a boil while you chop the canned whole tomatoes and add to soup. Then add your zucchini puree to thicken things up. And don’t forget to toss in your parmesan rind. I bought a type of parmesan cheese that really didn’t have much of a rind, so I ended up adding a large block of extra cheese that just kind of dissolved a bit. I didn’t mind that at all.
Bring this to a boil and then let simmer for at least 30 min. When soup is done, take off the heat and add your bunch of chopped basil leaves, chopped garlic, and parmesan cheese. Remove your bay leaves and what’s left of your parmesan rind. Stir and enjoy!
I was definitely ok with the change of the main ingredient, but was still disappointed. I had eggplant on my mind for days, and when you come so close to eating something you’re craving, only to have it taken away, there’s always going to be a pang of disappointment. That being said, this soup definitely lent itself to zucchini. It was a little thinner than I thought it would be, again seeing that eggplant has much more body to it and could really enhance this type of soup. I still happily ate this soup all week, and very much enjoyed it with a piece of crusty bread.
Roaring Tiger 