Roasted tomato and aubergine soup with anchovy aioli
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Original version. This soup is a meal in itself. We use fried garlic and anchovy oil twice - first to flavour the broth, then to make the aioli which as it all comes together makes everything sing in one salty, spicy, tomato-y crescendo
Our variation on the recipe We simplify the process by not grating tomatoes, no sugar, and no aioli. The original suggests serving with croutons which I've left out for obvious reasons
Follow 1. & 2.
Follow 3. - but not for the aioli. Use it all for the tomato mixture.
Ignore 4.
Use all garlic & anchovy for tomato mixture.
Follow 5 - except use 2 tins of tomatoes instead of grated tomatoes.
Ignore 6. & 7.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 large aubergines (600g) trimmed and cut into cubes
60ml olive oil
350g cherry tomatoes
2 mild red chillies finely chopped, seeds and all
2 and a half tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp caster sugar
450g vine tomatoes (grated!)
1 litre chicken (or veg) stock
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and black pepper
1 tbsp oregano leaves finely chopped to serve
1 tbsp parsley finely chopped to serve
Anchovy aioli
5 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
30g anchovies in olive oil (8-9) dained and finely chopped
90ml olive oil
50ml sunflower oil
1 large yolk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 Preheat the oven to 210c fan. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
2 Put the aubergines on the prepared tray with the olive oil, ¾ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper and toss to combine. Roast for 15 minutes, then add the datterini/cherry tomatoes, give everything a good mix and roast for 30 mins more, stirring halfway through until everything is nicely colured and the tomatoes have burst.
4 Meanwhile, make the anchovy aioli. Put the garlic, anchovies, olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper into a medium saucepan on a low heat. Cook gently for 18 mins, stirring occasionally, until the garlic and anchovies soften when mashed with the back of a spoon. Take care that the oil does not get too hot, otherwise the garlic will catch and burn. If it starts to bubble too much, just take the pan off the heat to cool down a little, before returning to heat.
5 Transfer 60g of the garlic and anchovy oil mixture (roughly equal parts solids to oil) to a measuring jug. Add the sunflower oil and set aside to cool.

6 Return the pan with the remaining garlic and anchovy oil mixture to a medium-high heat then add the chillies, tomato paste, sugar and two thirds of the grated tomatoes and fry for 4 minutes, stirring often until thickened. Add the stock, 1 ¼ teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the roasted vegetables and cook gently for 15 mins. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and the remaining third of grated tomato.
6 Finish the aioli by putting the egg yolk and lemon juice into the small bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, start adding the cooled garlic and anchovy oil mixture very slowly until it thickens to a mayonnaise like consistency, Transfer to a small bowl/
7 Finish with the herbs and a good spoonful of the aioli, serving any extra aioli alongside
Original Recipe Yotam Ottelenghi