Caponata
Of disputed origin, caponata is a traditional recipe from Sicily in southern Italy. This recipe makes quite a large amount of food, but I've found caponata keeps very well in the fridge and only gets better with age.
For extra oomph, make sure you have some good olive oil and some home made bread to go with it.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 eggplants diced
- 2 yellow onions chopped
- 5 or 6 cloves of garlic minced
- 14 roma tomatoes de-seeded and diced
- 2 red bell peppers chopped
- 1 hot pepper (Aleppo pepper is best) minced
- 1/3 cup capers
- 1/2 cup green pitted olives sliced
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 1 table spoon fresh basil minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Start by cutting the eggplant into cubes. Next, grab your trusty stew pot and add the olive oil. Set the heat to high and wait for it to get hot.
Add the eggplant by batches and stir it around making sure it browns before starting the next batch, add more olive oil if needed.
When you are done searing the eggplant add the onion and set the heat to medium, when the onion has gone transparent add the garlic and the bell peppers. Stir it around until it is soft and well cooked, almost burnt.
You can add the hot pepper now if you don't want your caponata to be too spicy or later with the capers for extra spice.
Add the eggplant, the tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar to the pot and stir it all together. Set the heat up and let it boil before turning the heat back down again. Stir the mix and let it cook until the eggplant is tender. This should take about 20 minutes.
Finally turn off the heat completely and add the capers and olives with the basil stirring it well into your caponata.
Wait 5 minutes before tasting and add salt and pepper accordingly. Serve on bread or as a entree on a dish.
This stew will feed 6 hungry stew lovers.