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2 from 1 vote

Caponata

Ingredients

  • 1 lb  eggplants  sliced ½ inch thick and salted
  • 1 lb  onions  diced
  • 4 stalks celery chopped in ½ inch pieces
  • 1 cup  pitted green olives  cut in half
  • 1 lb  tomatoes
  • 1 tsp  thyme
  • 2 grinds pepper
  • 2 tbsp  sugar
  • 7 tbsp  wine vinegar or lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp  Sicilian capers

Instructions

  • Place eggplant slices on paper towels to weep (remove excess moisture) for 30 minutes
  • While eggplant is draining bitter juices onto paper towels, blanch celery
  • Blanch tomatoes and press through a sieve. (If you like chunks of tomato in your caponata, save ¼ of them set aside and chopped.)
  • After 30 minutes, rinse eggplant and pat dry. Cut into cubes
  • Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan and sauté the eggplants on all sides until golden brown. Place on paper towels to drain excess oil
  • Add 3 tbsp olive oil into pan and sauté onions until translucent
  • Add celery, olives, and sieved tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 5 minutes
  • Add sugar, vinegar (or lemon juice), capers, and eggplant (and rest of tomatoes if some were chopped). Simmer 7 minutes (or until vinegar fumes have dissipated)
  • Adjust sugar and vinegar to taste. Look for balance and desired sweetness level
  • Store in refrigerator and serve cold as a condiment with any meal

Notes

Any vegetables can be added to caponata. I make it from whatever is fresh in the garden.
~Merrill