Tomato, Sausage and Egglplant Soup with homemade garlic bread...
Tomato, Sausage & Eggplant Soup
Yield: 3 qts.
4 oz. olive oil
½ medium eggplant (unpeeled) cut into ½ cubes
½ tea. Salt
2 tbsp.chopped garlic
1/2 large Spanish onion, small dice
¼ bulb fresh fennel (1/4 dice)
2 tea. Fennel
2 bay leaves
2 tea. Dried basil
1 tea. Dried thyme
1 ¼ lb sweet Italian Sausage Meat
2 cup chicken stock
3 cup tomato puree
3 cups whole peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with their juice
¼ cup sugar
2 tea. Black pepper
1. Heat olive oil in sauce pan over medium heat, add eggplant and salt, sauté until tender. Transfer to a bowl
2. Pour any remaining oil into a soup pot, add garlic, brown lightly, then add onion and sauté until clear
3. Add the fresh fennel, the herbs and spices and cook for 2 minutes
4. Add the sausage and sauté until cooked, breaking up in small pieces as you cook it.
5. Add the chicken stock, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, eggplant, sugar and pepper. Stir well, bring to a simmer, and reduce to low and let simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
6. Check for seasoning and consistency, if too thick you may add more chicken stock.
I used large cans 28/29 oz. cans of tomatoes, and just adjusted everything up a bit! I also used already chopped tomatoes, and the whole eggplant, I didn't have any use for the leftover half!