Aubergine and yoghurt soup

How strange being back at work after an 11 month absence. And what a difficult decision it was. Bursting into tears in the Monday morning team meeting because you were up all night with your ill baby and you feel like a rotten mum for having dropped him at the creche in such a state is just par for the course, I guess. And so is being knackered after cooking the week's meals on Sunday instead of lazing about with the FT Weekend.

A very large (in my husband's opinion the largest) part of the problem is my tendency to perfectionism. Nigella's whole domestic goddess thing. I feel compelled to cook meals myself, rather than get take-out, even if it is from Ottolenghi. I want it all to be "just so". Is that too much to ask? All I need to do is focus on easy recipes that can be made quickly, in large quantities and keep well in the fridge or freezer. See - not that complicated!

I have always found that soups are great for busy times and can quickly be reheated to be eaten with a thick slice of buttered rye bread. Try this recipe - it is an exciting and tangy meal-in-a-bowl.


Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium aubergines

1 celery stalk, finely sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 – 3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp fennel seeds

½ tsp caraway seeds

1 egg yolk

½ Tbsp corn flour

1 cup / 250ml natural yoghurt

650ml vegetable stock

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

Method

1. Cut the aubergines in half length-wise and roast them in a hot oven (200ºC/400ºF) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until they are very soft. Then set aside to cool.

2. In the meantime, heat a little olive or rapeseed oil in a saucepan and gently cook the onion, celery and garlic until soft.

3. In a separate pan, dry roast the spices for a few minutes, before grinding them in a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle.

4. While the other ingredients are cooling down, beat together the egg yolk and corn flour, then stir in the yoghurt.

5. Now scoop out the flesh of the aubergines (discarding the charred skin) and liquidize with the cooked onion mix, the spices, one cup of vegetable stock and the cayenne pepper. Pour the soup back into the saucepan and add the rest of the vegetable stock.

6. Slowly whisk in the yoghurt mixture and stir continuously over a medium heat until the soup just starts to simmer. Then remove the saucepan from the heat immediately. Adjust seasoning.
7. Serve with a spoon of thick yoghurt and some chopped parsley or a sprig of lemon thyme.