Fresh Tomato Soup with Seared Eggplant Sandwiches

From In the Hands of a Chef: Cooking with Jody Adams by Jody Adams and Ken Rivard (New York: William Morrow).

Makes four servings

About ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped into ¼-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 beautiful eggplant (about 10 ounces), sliced ½ thick into 8 slices
2 cups water
½ cup chopped fresh basil, plus 4 leaves for garnish
½ cup Pesto
Four ¼-inch-thick slices fresh mozzarella (about 2 ounces)
Four ½-inch-thick slices rustic bread, about the same size as the eggplant slices

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sugar, lower the heat, and cook for 25 minutes.

2. While the tomatoes are cooking, season 8 eggplant slices with salt and pepper. (If you have more than 8 slices, set the remainder aside for another use or discard.) Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant slices and sear on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. Add the water to the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Purée in a blender and strain through a fine sieve. Return the tomato soup to the pot, add the chopped basil, and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

5. Spread the eggplant slices with the pesto. Put a slice of mozzarella on 4 of the slices. Top with the remaining 4 eggplant slices, pesto side down, to make "sandwiches.”

6. Brush the bread with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and place on a small baking sheet. Toast in the oven until golden brown. Top each slice with an eggplant sandwich and continue heating until the cheese begins to melt.

7. While the sandwiches are heating, reheat the tomato broth.

8. Place an eggplant sandwich in the bottom of each warm bowl. Pour the tomato broth around the sandwiches. Drizzle with olive oil, garnish with the basil leaves, and serve immediately.

Pesto

2 cups lightly packed basil leaves
¾ cups extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed with a pinch of salt to a paste
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino Romano
Kosher Salt

1. Put the basil leaves in a food processor. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin steady stream and process until the basil is finely chopped, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and pine nuts and process for another 20 seconds, or until the pine nuts are finely chopped but not a paste.

2. Transfer the pesto to a bowl. Stir in the cheeses. Taste and season with salt as necessary.
                                                                                 
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