Ratatouille Soup

I am off to a slow cooking start this year!  But again, being alone it's hard to make and then not waste new dishes when you're alone.

But soup is always a good bet, at least for me.  And this vegan soup is just about as flavorful and healthy as you could make....a great staple to have around with you need a snack  (well, this is my idea of a snack, anyway!)

I'm posting the original recipe as I found it which states that is serves 4-6.   Unless you're in the land of giants, I think that is way, way understated.  I made half of the recipe and it made 8 cups.  The recipe calls to use 3 (14.5 oz) cans of tomatoes, I used one.  It calls for one (15 oz) can of cannellini beans and I used the entire can which help thicken the soup even more, which I prefer.

I would suggest one thing:  after all of the vegetables are cooked and you put aside half of them, pull out as much of the eggplant as possible.  It's wonderful pureed in the soup, but not so good in chunks.  Also, this calls to saute the vegetables in vegetable oil, but if you want to make this virtually fat-free, saute them in a stock pot sprayed with cooking spray.

RATATOUILLE SOUP (makes about 16 cups)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups medium-diced onion
3 cups medium-diced red pepper (about 1 extra-large or 2 medium red peppers)\
S&P to taste
5 cups medium-diced eggplant (about 1 extra-large or 2 medium eggplants)
5 cups medium-diced zucchini (about 2 large or 3 medium zucchini)
3 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1 (15 oz) can cannelli beans, drained and rinsed
1 quart vegetable broth

Heat the oil in a 4 or 5 quart stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, peppers, S&P (about 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper) and saute until the onions are translucent and the peppers are soft.  Add the eggplant and saute until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the zucchini and saute until it begins to soften, another 5 minutes.

Remove about 3 cups of the sauteed vegetables (my recommendation: leave as much of the eggplant cubes in the vegetables which will be pureed, using mainly onions, peppers, and zucchini as the chunks) from the stock pot and set them aside to cool.  Add the stewed tomatoes, cannellini beans, vegetable stock, and S&P to taste.  Bring the mixture to a simmer for about 10 minutes over medium heat.

In a blender being careful with the hot liquid, puree the vegetables in batches (NOTE:  Since I halved the recipe, I was able to blend everything at one time in my 64-oz Vitamix).  Blend until completely smooth.  Place the pureed soup back in the stock pot, add the reserved sauteed vegetables, and bring the soup up to a simmer over medium heat until heated through.

Recipe Source:  www.qvc.com/RatatouilleSoup.content.html