Silky, candy, and bitter, this eggplant caponata recipe is a scrumptious summer time appetizer. Serve it on crostini with plenty of recent basil for garnish!
Today, our neighborhood farmers market is principally like a caponata cooking package. Mounds of eggplants, tomatoes, and multicolored peppers fill each stall. I’m fairly happy about it, as a result of this Sicilian vegetable stew is one in all my favourite late summer time dishes. It’s tangy, briny, and flippantly candy, with a wealthy, silky texture that’s completely irresistible.
I first fell in love with caponata years in the past on a visit to Italy. Jack and I ordered it as an appetizer with crusty bread and a glass of white wine nearly in every single place we went. After we acquired dwelling, in fact I needed to learn to make my very own model. This caponata recipe has been a fixture in our kitchen ever since. I hope you find it irresistible as a lot as we do!
Caponata Recipe Components
Right here’s what you’ll must make this eggplant caponata recipe:
- Eggplant, in fact! Conventional caponata recipes begin with fried eggplant, however for a lighter, hands-off shortcut, I roast it as a substitute.
- Celery, onion, and garlic – They add savory taste.
- Pink bell peppers – A traditional caponata ingredient!
- Tomatoes – They create a light-weight sauce for the opposite veggies.
- Tomato paste – It thickens the recent tomato sauce.
- Capers – For briny taste. Some caponata recipes name for each inexperienced olives and capers, however I discover that simply capers do the trick. Plus, I at all times have a jar in my fridge!
- Sherry vinegar – In a pinch, pink wine vinegar will work right here too.
- Cane sugar and golden raisins – For sweetness. Many eggplant caponatas are solely sweetened with sugar, however I like the complexity that the raisins add to this recipe.
- Further-virgin olive oil – For richness.
- Recent parsley and basil – For an fragrant crowning glory.
- And salt and pepper – To make all of the flavors pop!
Discover the whole recipe with measurements under.
Step one to creating this recipe is roasting the eggplant.
Whereas it’s within the oven, place the golden raisins in a small bowl with the vinegar and capers. They’ll plump up properly within the vinegar. By the point you add them to the caponata, they’ll be comfortable, juicy, and filled with the vinegar’s tang.
Then, sauté the fragrant veggies and cook dinner the saucy tomato and pepper combination. Tip: be certain that to sauté the greens till they soften totally. This caponata recipe is greatest when all of the veggies are tender!
Add the roasted eggplant, plumped raisins, vinegar, and capers to the tomato and pepper sauce. Prepare dinner for one more 5 minutes to permit the eggplant to absorb the sauce’s flavors.
Lastly, stir within the parsley and season to style. Garnish with recent basil earlier than serving!
Easy methods to Serve Eggplant Caponata
Although you actually might serve eggplant caponata heat as a facet dish, I prefer it greatest chilled or at room temperature. Serve it as an appetizer with crostini, or add it to a mezze platter or cheese board at a late summer time gathering. It retains effectively within the fridge for as much as 5 days. I like to recommend serving it on day 2 or 3, after the flavors have had an opportunity to meld.
If in case you have leftover caponata, listed here are a couple of enjoyable methods to make use of it up:
- Toss it with pasta for a speedy weeknight meal.
- Serve it over polenta with toasted pine nuts for crunch.
- Pile it onto toast and prime it with a poached or soft-boiled egg.
- Slather it onto a sandwich with arugula and recent mozzarella cheese.
How do you prefer to serve caponata? Let me know within the feedback!
Extra Favourite Eggplant Recipes
If you happen to love this caponata recipe, attempt one in all these scrumptious eggplant recipes subsequent:
Eggplant Caponata
Serves 6 to eight
This eggplant caponata recipe is a scrumptious summer time appetizer or facet dish! My tackle the candy and bitter Sicilian stew, it is unbelievable chilled or at room temperature. We find it irresistible on crostini with recent basil for garnish.
- 1 recipe Roasted Eggplant
- 3 tablespoons golden raisins
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 pink bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 pound tomatoes, about 4 medium, cored and diced
- ½ teaspoon cane sugar
- ¼ cup chopped recent parsley
- Freshly floor black pepper
- Recent basil leaves, for garnish
- Crostini, for serving
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Roast the eggplant in response to this recipe.
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In a small bowl, mix the golden raisins, vinegar, and capers. Put aside for the raisins to melt whilst you put together the caponata.
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Warmth the olive oil in a big skillet over medium warmth. Add the onion and celery and cook dinner for 8 minutes, or till the greens have softened. Add the pink pepper and salt. Prepare dinner till tender, about 8 minutes.
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Add the tomato paste, garlic, tomatoes, and sugar, and cook dinner, stirring typically, for about 8 minutes, or till the tomatoes have cooked down and develop into saucy.
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Add the roasted eggplant, raisins, vinegar, capers, and several other grinds of pepper, and cook dinner, stirring, for five extra minutes. Stir within the parsley and season to style.
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Enable the caponata to chill to room temperature. We prefer it greatest on days 2 and three, after the flavors have had an opportunity to meld. Retailer it in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days.
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When able to serve, garnish the caponata with recent basil. Serve with crostini.
