Eggplant Pasta Soup With Feta Cheese And Warm Olive Toasts

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants, peeled and diced (about 1 1/4-1 1/2 lbs)
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup ditalini
• 2 large celery ribs, finely diced (save the celery leaves and dice fine)
• 1 large onion, fine chopped chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 anchovies, fine chopped and mashed (i use a fork to mash them up)
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, fine chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt (go easy)
• pepper
• cheese and olive spread (see garlic feta toasts with a warm olive spread)

Recipe

• 1 base -- in a large soup pot, add the olive oil and bring to medium heat. add in onion, garlic and celery and saute for 5 minutes until the onion becomes transparent and the vegetables are tender. add in the anchovies and cook another minute.
• 2 eggplant -- add the eggplant and stir until well combined. then add the broth, tomatoes, seasoning (keep the parsley out until the end), and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the eggplant is tender, about 30-40 minutes.
• 3 pasta -- add in the ditalini pasta (you can also use any small cut pasta) and cook until tender. it only takes 5-7 minutes. taste for any additional seasoning and add in the parsley.
• 4 serve -- serve a nice big bowl and my garlic feta toasts with a warm olive spread. enjoy a nice simple soup.