Sicilian caponata
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Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 4 medium eggplants (about 2 lbs.), cut into ¾-inch cubes
  • 2 celery stalks, cut into ½-inch-long pieces
  • 1 large red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
  • 6 oz. pitted green olives, halved
  • 1⁄4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
  • 1 one-inch wide slice of spelt or rustic bread (optional)
  • 1⁄2 cup fresh grated tomato
  • 1⁄2 cup Xerez vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. caster sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup pine nuts
  • 4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
  • 1 Handful of chopped parsley
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Sea salt
Instructions
  1. Place the eggplant in a colander, season liberally with salt, and toss to combine. Let the eggplant stand for 30 minutes, then rinse under cold running water until all the salt is gone. Squeeze all the moisture from the eggplant and dry them thoroughly on paper towels.
  2. While the eggplant is sweating, toast the pine nuts on a very low flame until golden.
  3. In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over high heat. Working in three batches, add the eggplant to the oil and fry, tossing occasionally, until dark brown all over. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggplant to paper towels to drain and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
  4. Reduce the skillet to medium heat, add the celery and onion, and cook, stirring, until soft.
  5. Stir in the olives and capers and cook for 2 minutes. Add the grated tomato and cook, stirring, until the paste is lightly caramelized.
  6. Pour in the vinegar and sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the vinegar almost completely evaporates.
  7. Scrape the vegetables into a large bowl, stir in the eggplant and the pine nuts, and season the caponata with salt and pepper.
  8. If you use the bread toast it and dice in 1 inch croutons.
  9. In a separate bowl mix the diced tomatoes with the parsley and the toasted croutons. Season well with olive oil, pepper and salt.
  10. Plate the caponata placing the vegetables first and adding the fresh tomatoes mixture on top.
  11. Add some more parsley and drizzle the caponata with extra-virgin olive oil before serving.
Culinary Tips
There are as many versions of caponata as towns in Sicily. Its base are eggplants, tomatoes, capers and olives and its sweet-and-sour sauce. You can make it without celery, with peppers, almonds instead of pine nuts, etc.
To preserve the vegs flavors we have chosen to cook the ingredients separately and combine them at the end. Instead, you can fry the eggplant, reserve and prepare the dish from the fried celery and onion mix incorporating the ingredients in steps.
We add a fresh touch to the caponata by adding diced tomatoes at the end. You can cook the tomatoes if you prefer with the rest of ingredients.
Vinegar is a main ingredient in the Caponata. We have used Xerez (sherry) vinegar, for its mildness, aroma and Baroque character. You can replace it with a vinegar of your choice only if it is of an excellent quality.
Recipe by The Quotidian Cook at https://www.thequotidiancook.com/en/sicilian-caponata/