📋Sicilian Vegetable Caponata Recipe With Eggplants

eggplant caponata on a piece of bread on a wooden board

📋Sicilian Vegetable Caponata Recipe With Eggplants

Sicilian vegetable Caponata is a traditional sweet and sour recipe, made with all produce grown locally: peppers, eggplants, celery, capers, basil, nuts, and raisins. It is served as an appetizer on bruschetta or as a side dish for grilled meat. It is easy to make and best if made ahead of time. The eggplants absorb all the flavors and the Caponata will taste even better the following days.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Keyword caponata, Eggplants, sicilian starter

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 15

Servings people

Calories 576kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

3 eggplants
3 red, green and yellow peppers
1 cup pitted black olives
1 onion
1 stalk stalk of celery
⅓ cup raisin
⅓ cup pine nuts
⅓ cup almond
2 tablespoon capers
1 ¾ cup homemade tomato sauce
⅔ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 sprig fresh basil leaves
6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil abundant
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Clean and peel the eggplants and cut them into cubes
3 eggplants
Wash the peppers, remove the centre and the seeds and cut the peppers into cubes
3 red, green and yellow peppers
Fry the eggplants in a pan with abundant olive oil
6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Once golden remove and let them dry on a kitchen paper towel so the towel will absorb the oil
In the same oil, fry the peppers
Once cooked remove from the pan and put them aside
In another pan pour 6 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the sliced onion
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 onion
Once translucent, add the chopped stalk of celery
1 stalk stalk of celery
Add the capers, raisins, pinenuts, almonds pistaches, and olives. Stir fry at medium heat
⅓ cup raisin, ⅓ cup pine nuts, ⅓ cup almond, 2 tablespoon capers, 1 cup pitted black olives
Once it is all nicely browned add the tomato sauce and the chopped basil leaves
1 ¾ cup homemade tomato sauce, 1 sprig fresh basil leaves
Season with salt and pepper and let it simmer for few minutes
salt & pepper
Dissolve the sugar into the vinegar and pour over the sauce
⅔ cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon caster sugar
Slowly add the eggplants and the peppers
Stir for few minutes and transfer on a serving dish
To serve, let it cool down completely. Even better the next day

Video

Notes

Make the caponata 1 or 2 days ahead of time, the more time it rests, the more the ingredients amalgamize their flavours
Use capers preserved in salt, they have a much better flavour
All nuts should be of good quality
You can use white or red vinegar, but if you use balsamic do not add the sugar
Make sure you absorb the oil from the fried eggplants and peppers otherwise, otherwise, the dish is too oily
Buy small and long eggplants making sure they are not full of seeds.

Nutrition