If you’re tired of serving the same ol’ potato salad at your summer barbeques or picnics, I’d like to suggest an excellent alternative which also happens to make GREAT leftovers: caponata, i.e. a lovely summer vegetable dish, combining wonderful Sicilian sweet-and-sour flavors.
In this recipe, eggplants are the stars of the show: they are cut in pieces, fried (or sauteed) and then cooked briefly together with a softened ensemble of onions, celery, fresh tomatoes, capers, olives, and raisins. The most important additions are a generous splash of good vinegar and a couple tablespoons of sugar — both enhancing the sweet and sour taste for which caponata is known (in Italian, we call it agrodolce). A sprinkle of chopped almonds or pine nuts add a nice bit of crunchiness to the dish. Needless to say, all ingredients must be fresh and of the best quality you can find.
In order for the eggplant pieces to retain their shape, you must salt them and leave them in a colander to drain for about 30 minutes; salt draws the bitterness and the excess liquid out of the eggplant, preserving some of its firmness during cooking.
You’ll be surprised at how much use you’ll get out of this dish! Its flavor improves with time and it can definitely be enjoyed for 2 or 3 consecutive days, either cold or warm. It’s perfect when served with meat or fish, but my absolute favorite way to enjoy it is to wait for the following day and eat it as a snack or antipasto. Actually, this is my recommendation to you:
- Take “1-day old” caponata out of the fridge.
- Let it reach room temperature.
- Make a crostino by arranging 1 or 2 tablespoons of caponata on top of a toasted slice of crusty Italian bread.
- Open your mouth and devour your fancy crostino like there’s no tomorrow.
Some people also use caponata as a condiment to their pasta. Heck, it can even make a great filling for a quick sandwich to bring into work: just slice up a baguette or a ciabatta roll, fill it with caponata, wrap it up and bring it along with you.
Did you make more caponata than your belly can take? No worries. Just freeze it in an airtight container and stash it for later on in the year. Enjoying summer flavors when it’s cold out is a real treat!
- 2 medium eggplants, cut in 1-inch cubes
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 1 medium onion, finely sliced
- 3-4 large tomatoes (about 1 lb or 450 g), peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 Tbsp capers, drained
- 2 Tbsp raisins, softened in water and squeezed
- 1 cup black olives, pitted
- scant ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp almonds, chopped
- extra-virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
- sea salt
- oregano leaves
- Place your cubed eggplant in a colander and lightly sprinkle it with salt. Let the bitterness drain out for about 30 minutes. Rinse, squeeze out the excess water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Pour a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil in a large pan over medium heat . Add eggplant. Turn up the heat and saute until lightly brown on all sides (you may need to cook the eggplant in batches). Do not overcook! Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a separate thick-bottomed casserole, heat some extra-virgin olive oil. Add celery, onion, and tomatoes and cook for about 7-10 minutes. Add capers, raisins, olives, sugar, and vinegar and mix. Add some salt to taste.
- When vinegar has evaporated, turn down the heat. Throw in your sauteed eggplant and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until tender (but not mushy!).
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a few oregano leaves and chopped almonds. Give it all a nice stir, and taste it again. If needed, you can add a little more pepper or salt or vinegar or simply a nice drizzle of good extra-virgin olive oil.
- You can use 1 can of strained tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes.
- Caponata can be refrigerated up to ⅔ days. It can be freezed in an airtight container.
Great idea for a healthy vegan dish! And amazing pictures as always. Great job!
Grazie mille, Virginia! 🙂
This is so, so good. I made it last night and it was incredible while warm and fresh, but it really is almost even better the next day. I keep snagging bites of it from the fridge. Fantastic! This will definitely be added to my regular rotation.
Thanks, Summer! So glad to hear you like it! 🙂