Eggplant Stew with Tomatoes, Zucchini & Chickpeas

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• When you roast vegetables for stew, they get good caramelized flavors. I don’t do it for every vegetable soup recipe, but when I do I think if I should start to default to doing this cooking strategy.
• This is a veggie-packed soup recipe that’s very filling. Chickpeas are a simple way to make vegan soups more satisfying for a meal.
• You can never have too many vegetable soups in your fall to winter rotation, and I like this one because it uses the last of peak summer produce. Veggie soups are simple to cook, can be made in advance, and they are freezer friendly.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Eggplant: Look for an eggplant that has shiny and smooth skin and does not have any soft spots. It should feel heavy for its size.
• Zucchini: Similar to eggplant, the freshest zucchini has smooth skin and is firm and not soft. You can substitute with yellow squash.
• Chickpeas: After you rinse off the canned chickpeas in a colander, pat them off with a towel. This is a simple way to pull off any loose skins.
• Crushed tomatoes are the base of this veggie stew. They can be tomatoes with basil or fire-roasted tomatoes
• Onions: Like most soups, this one starts with sautéing onions to establish a base of flavor for the garlic and seasonings.
• Garlic: Three garlic cloves may sound like a lot, but this amount really balances well with the seasonings and the overall flavors.
• Dried spices: The stew has cumin, smoked paprika, kosher salt and black pepper.
• Vegetable broth: I always use low-sodium veggie broth. Then I can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
• Olive oil: You will need oil for roasting the vegetables on the pan and for sautéing the onions in the pot.
• Parsley: I always like to finish soups with chopped fresh herbs before serving them.

Optional Additions

• Harissa: If you like heat and spice, more than the smoked paprika, you can add a tablespoon of harissa paste with the garlic and seasonings.
• Red pepper flakes: Another way to make the stew spicy is to include 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes with the spices.
• Feta: In addition chopped parsley, you can sprinkle each bowl with crumbled feta cheese if you don’t need it to be vegan.

How To Make Roasted Eggplant Stew

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Toss the eggplant and zucchini with oil, salt and pepper on a sheet pan. Spread them into single layer.

2. Roast the vegetables until they are tender and lightly browned at the edges, about 25-30 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven and sauté the onions over medium high heat. They will start to be come soft and translucent in 3-4 minutes.

4. Stir in the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. They will quickly make the onions fragrant.

5. Pour in the tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil and then let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. The stew will thicken slightly.

6. Add the roasted eggplant and zucchini and chickpeas and simmer. Give the stew 10 minutes, so everything is warmed through. Garnish each bowl with chopped parsley.

Serving

This is stew that eats like a meal. Here are a few side options to go with it:

• Crusty bread or pita bread: If you have bread with a good crust, it will be great for dipping, but I also enjoy soft pita on the side.
• Couscous, quinoa or rice: You can even spoon some of these cooked grains right into the soup or keep them separate.
• Salad: With the flavors in the eggplant stew, this Moroccan carrot salad, this carrot salad with tahini vinaigrette or this roasted cauliflower lentil salad would all go with it.

Recipe Tips

• Use the time that the eggplant and zucchini are roasting in the oven to start making the tomato stew. This is a simple, uncomplicated way to multi-task.
• Watch the stew as it simmers. If it looks like it is thickening too quickly, lower the heat, or even add a little more veggie broth. Giving the soup time to simmer is more about the flavors melding than the vegetables cooking considering you roast them in the oven.
• Taste the soup while it’s cooking. Of course, be careful not to burn your mouth, but tasting it periodically helps you know if you need to adjust the seasonings. For any soup recipe, it’s better to figure this out while you still have cook time left on your soup.