#Souperbowl: Eggplant-ball Pasta e Fagioli Soup

The other week a bunch of us Charcutepalooza graduates ;) were talking about what new food adventure we could embark on next. Apparently we're glutton for punishment. And you know how one thing leads to another, so before you knew it we were talking soup. Because, who doesn't love soup? Ideas went around and Sharon who writes a blog called  nickelmoon said she would write it up.

The next day? I'm pretty sure it was the next day... there was a post up on her blog giving the rules and the first challenge. She had decided to call this spoon fed adventure #souperbowl. You can play too, just go grab a bowl. For the first go round we were to make an Italian inspired soup using beans, eggplant and orange peel.

I used to watch a show on Food Network called 'Chopped'. The chefs would get a picnic basket with three ingredients and have 20 minutes to put together a cohesive dish using all three of the given ingredients plus whatever else they wanted. Inevitably two of the key ingredients would go together well and one would be the "odd duck" ingredient. That's sort of how I felt with the three ingredients we got. The fact that it had to be Italian threw me too. I could see those three in a Moroccan kind of a soup, but Italian?

So my mind started turning the soup gears around. Maybe it's because I'm just wrapping up with Charcutepalooza, or maybe it's because for some reason I go to meatballs when I think Italian, but meatball soup is where I ended up. But what I really wanted was a vegetarian soup. There's been a lot of meat lately. Not that there is anything wrong with meat, I was just in the mood for a comforting vegetarian soup. I started thinking that eggplant meatballs might be a good thing. I opted to turn to the interwebs for help, and wouldn't you know it...eggplant meatballs have been done before. I was glad because the night I was planning this meal I was plum out of creative juice. I found a recipe on The Daily Green that called for them to be baked, and since I always prefer to bake things instead of frying them when I am in my own house I settled on that recipe. The bonus was that the meatballs called for lemon zest so I just swapped that out for orange zest and just like that I had used two of the three ingredients.

The last ingredient was easy for me. For the beans I instantly thought of a pasta e fagioli soup. One of my favorite cookbooks is The Compete Pasta Cookbook put out by Williams Sonoma. I'm sure that a lot of it has to do with all the full size color pictures of the different recipes. I also have a hunch that it has to do with my love affair with pasta. It doesn't really matter though, every recipe I have made from that book I have loved. It has a good recipe in it for pasta e fagioli soup. I may have cheated a little bit by not making up the recipe from scratch but I'm OK with that this time around. I was just hoping the meatballs and the soup would get along well together.

The meatballs eggplant-balls are really good. They are great just for snacking on and, strangely enough, really look like meat. The nuts that are in the eggplant-balls went really well with the pasta e fagioli soup which I was worried about. Unfortunately the orange zest didn't work with the rest of the soup and when I make this again I will omit that ingredient. I wouldn't say this recipe knocked it out of the park but hey, no one hits a home run every time they step up to bat. It is a compelling idea though so I'll go back to this one later on and tinker with it a bit more.

The Recipes:

Eggplant Meatballs

From The Daily Green

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or more if needed
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1⁄4 - to 1⁄2 -inch dice (*I peeled my eggplant because my family really hates the skin on eggplants.)
• 1 1⁄2 cups walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups dried bread crumbs (*I added the breadcrumbs at the end so the meatballs weren't too dry. I ended up using 1 1/2 cups) 
• 2 large organic eggs, beaten; or 1⁄2 cup firm tofu, processed until smooth
• 1⁄2 cup dairy or vegan Parmesan, grated
• 1⁄2 cup grated Pecorino, or vegan cheese
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed (*I minced the garlic as fine as I could.)
• Zest of 1 lemon (* I used the zest of one orange.)
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped basil (*I omitted the basil and it was just fine.)
• vegetable oil spray  

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Heat a large skillet and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the skillet is hot, add the onion and sauté on medium-low until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the eggplant and a sprinkle of salt and sauté until the vegetables are soft and fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. If the eggplant dries out too quickly and begins to stick, add a bit more olive oil. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the walnuts, if using, to the eggplant and mix thoroughly. Transfer a generous cup of the eggplant mixture to the food processor. Process until pureed and return to the bowl. Add the bread crumbs, eggs, Parmesan, Pecorino, garlic, zest, parsley, oregano, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper and mix well. If the mixture seems too dry, add the remaining tablespoon or more olive oil. Rub a little olive oil on your palms and shape the meatballs with your hands, using 2 heaping tablespoons of the mixture at a time. Each meatball should be about the size of a golf ball.
4. Place the eggplant balls on the prepared baking sheet and spray with vegetable oil spray. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a deep golden brown with a nice crust. Don’t let them over bake or they will get too dry. Remove the pan from the oven, cover with foil to slightly steam the balls, and allow them to rest for a few minutes.

Pasta, White Bean and Tomato Soup

Simplified and slightly adapted from The Complete Pasta Cookbook put out by Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 yellow onion; peeled and finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves; peeled and minced
• 1 14.5 oz. can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can of white navy beans; rinsed and drained
• 5 cups of vegetable broth
• 5 ounces of dried pasta (elbows or shells)

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and the garlic and saute slowly, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent.
2. Add the tomatoes as well as the salt and pepper and saute for an additional 5 minutes.
3. Add the beans and the vegetable broth and simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes.
4. Add the pasta and simmer until pasta is al dente.
5. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a few of the eggplant meatballs.