Smoky Eggplant Soup

I often blacken eggplants over the gas flame on my stovetop and they always have a smoky flavor. Did you let them cool before peeling away the charred skin? I think contact between the skin and the flesh transfers flavor.

I don't get what I did wrong. This was awful. The dog wouldn't even eat it. I think my family will be forever making fun of this recipe.

Whatever method you use to char the eggplants, do as Catalans and Spaniards do and put them in a brown paper bag while they cool after they’re cooked. They’ll absorb more of the smokey flavor and you’ll be able to peel the charred skin off quite easily. Same as for red peppers or other vegetables charred like this.

This is the most sought after food recipe from family and friends, and it always turns out the same-delicious. It is both tasty and healthy. I always embellish it at the end with crushed almonds or pistachios along with fried crunchy onions on the top. Also, it is tastier served hot. Try it.

Agree that it wasn't very smoky when broiled. Added a bit of smoked piméton and seasoned w applewood smoked salt. Drizzled with lemon olive oil and thinned créme fraiîche. Eggplant flavor really comes through in this lovely soup.

I had an eggplant soup in Turkey recently, and it did not taste lemony. For my meal at home, we had a lot of lemon going on in other parts of the meal.

So I left the lemon out of soup, reduced the broth to 4 cups, used skinny Thai eggplants, added Turkish red pepper (medium hot) and about a half cup of half and half after the Cuisinart. No straining seemed necessary. Garnished with toasted almonds, zaatar, smoked paprika, and dabs of olive oil. Huge hit. Delicious.

I froze what I had left of this, just to see if it would be a way to keep some of the current bumper crop. And yes indeed, it was fine. Za'atar should be used generously (made from an online recipe in Fine Cooking). I'll be making more of this soup for the freezer.

This tastes very good, but the two times I've made it the soup has been brown and not the creamy color pictured. It also takes me more than a half hour.

Loved this soup being spicy. Lemon really makes this soup. Didn't garnish with lemon jest or oil. Used crisped bread crumbs from the freezer and sprinkled with Za'atar.

I don't know what I did right. I am a complete amateur. I followed the recipe slavishly, and the results were amazing. The taste was complex: spicy, savory and lemony. I found it very quick and simple. The oil and zest garnish were beautiful. My family loved it. This one will go into my repertoire for sure.

For those cursed with an electric stove/oven (such as myself), I split the eggplants lengthwise, brushed the flesh with olive oil and roasted in the oven at 500 degrees for about minutes flesh-side up and then an additional 10 minutes flesh-side down. The skin peels right off. Alas, there is no smoky flavor, but the soup still comes out great. Still strained the soup, even after using an immersion blender, as I find unstrained soups sit heavy in the stomach afterwards.

Adding smoked paprika when you're simmering helps up the smokiness. I used less garlic and am glad I did. Came out delicious!

Very good! I grilled the eggplant on my charcoal BBQ for an additional smoke taste. Took a little longer, but well worth the effort.

I made this exactly as directed. I agree there is no need to strain the soup. Also, the eggplant takes a lot longer than the recipe says to cook under the broiler. It actually tasted more flavorful when reheated the next day. I felt like it needed a little something, so I crumbled a little feta on top. Delicious!

This was good, not great. I made Za'atar from a recipe I found in Fine Cooking, using sumac, which I keep around. I cooked the eggplants on the gas grill, and didn't get much smoky -- or even charred -- taste. Lots of eggplant in the garden, so it might be worth lighting charcoal for this. Did not strain, just blitzed it throughly with immersion blender.