Sicilian Caponata: Sweet and Sour Eggplant with Capers

Name: Sicilian Caponata: Sweet and Sour Eggplant with Capers
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 155 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 large eggplants (about 800 g); Coarse salt; Olive or neutral oil, for frying; 1 red onion, diced; 2 celery stalks, diced; 400 g canned crushed tomatoes; 80 g pitted green olives; 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed; 60 ml white wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon sugar; 1 handful basil leaves; 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or almonds (optional)

⏱ 2 h 35 min in total🔪 25 min prep🍳 40 min cooking🧊 1 h 30 min resting🍽 6 servingsMediumMediterranean

Sicilian caponata: golden eggplant cubes with celery, green olives, capers and basil

The eggplant cubes are fried separately and added at the end, so they stay whole instead of breaking down into the sauce. Vinegar and sugar give it the sweet-and-sour finish that defines it.

Caponata is the Sicilian antipasto of fried eggplant in a tomato sauce with celery, olives and capers, finished with vinegar and sugar. That sweet-and-sour finish, the agrodolce, is what sets it apart from any other Mediterranean vegetable stew, and it's why it's served warm or cold: as an appetizer with bread or alongside fish. It takes about 25 minutes of work and 40 of cooking, plus salting the eggplant and resting for at least an hour.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 6 servings

2 large eggplants (about 800 g)
Coarse salt
Olive or neutral oil, for frying
1 red onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
400 g canned crushed tomatoes
80 g pitted green olives
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
60 ml white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 handful basil leaves
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or almonds (optional)

Method

1
Cut the eggplants into 2 cm cubes, sprinkle them with coarse salt and let them sit in a colander for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry them very well: if they go into the oil wet, they spatter and soak it up.
2
Fry the cubes in hot oil in batches until golden, and drain them on paper towels. For a lighter version, drizzle them with oil and roast them at 200 °C for 25 minutes.
3
In a pot with 2 tablespoons of oil, cook the onion and celery over medium heat for 8 minutes: the celery should be tender but still have a little crunch.
4
Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the olives and capers.
5
Mix the vinegar with the sugar and pour it into the pot. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the sharp smell of the vinegar mellows: that's the agrodolce, the sweet-and-sour contrast that defines caponata.
6
Fold in the eggplant and cook for 5 more minutes over low heat, stirring gently so it doesn't break apart. Taste and adjust the salt, vinegar or sugar.
7
Turn off the heat, add the basil leaves and let it rest for at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with the pine nuts; it's even better the next day.