wonderful eggplant soup (and friends!)

On Saturday I headed to MI, where I met up with some good friends I lived with my senior year of college. It is a wonderful group of eclectic, smart women. We get together every year, and in addition to lots of great chatting, food tends to be a prominent feature at our gatherings. Since I wasn't able to 'chow down' on our usual plethora of tastiness, one of my girlfriends made me the most delicious eggplant soup. She first roasted the whole eggplant in the oven, and then cut it open, scooped out the middle, and simmered it with some roma tomatoes, garlic & onion, oregano, and broth (and perhaps some other stuff...).

It was then pureed, and I added a dollop of homemade basil pesto, that I stirred into the soup. It was divine (and the time with the ladies, was- of course- priceless)!