Harissa Soup

An intense pink colour, creamy, sour, sweet and with a bite of aubergine and haloumi; this soup for me forms the perfect balance of taste and looks.

Even when it comes to food I have a soft spot for beautiful colors. Some years ago I saw a seafood bisque being prepared in a cookery show and I was intrigued by that beautiful creamy pink colour; I could almost taste it on my tongue. But without the fish please. I started experimenting and finally this harissa soup became just what I hoped it would be; creamy, sour, sweet and with the bite of aubergine and haloumi.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 limes (zest and juice)
• 2 tbls harissa paste
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 1 red pepper
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 tbl cane sugar
• 1 tub of thick (Greek) yoghurt
• Moroccan olive oil
• Half a bulb of garlic, smashed
• 1 aubergine, cut into small cubes
• 1 pack of haloumi, cut into thin slices

Preparation:

• Start with the base of the soup: prepare the stock en add to this the harissa paste and limezest and -juice . Let this simmer on a high heat for a while.
• Meanwhile roast the pepper on a burner of your stove until blackened, put in a plastic bag and leave to cool.
• Add the whole tomatoes to the soup, together with the sugar and let simmer on low heat.
• Peel the blackened skin of the pepper, cut into chunks and add to the soup.
• Smash the garlic and heat this together with the Moroccan olive oil in a pan, then add the aubergine cubes and season with salt and pepper.

By adding the garlic to the cold oil and heating it together, the garlic will not burn and the oil will be infused with an intense garlic flavour

• Cook the aubergine until completely soft and lightly browned, put aside and leave some of the oil in the pan.
• Fry the haloumi in thin slices in the (hot!) oil until crispy and light brown and set aside.
• Turn off the heat, and with a hand mixer process until smooth, then add the yoghurt with a whisk.
• Depending on the season, you could gently reheat the soup on a low heat, but be careful that the yoghurt does not curd.
• Serve with the haloumi and aubergine cubes in the soup.

During the summer this soup is also delicious served cold!