Fry

Caponata

by:
October 10, 2014
5
1 Ratings
Caponata
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

My Aunt Tootsie was a fabulous cook because she learned from my Grandmother. This is her recipe for caponata. Great served with antipasti before a meal while singing "Ti voglio bene" as Aunt Tootsie did. —Nicki Filipponi

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 Eggplant, unpeeled and cubed
  • 3/4 cup Olive oil
  • 2 Red bell peppers, sliced
  • 2 medium Onions, sliced
  • 4 stalks Celery, cut into 1/4" pieces
  • 2 tablespoons Capers
  • 1/2 cup Pignoli (pine nuts)
  • 1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 pound Kalamata olives (pitted and halved)
  • 1/4 cup Tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 2 tablespoons Sugar
Directions
  1. Fry the eggplant in 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large frying pan. Cook until brown and set pan aside.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil to another pan and sauté the red peppers until tender then add it to the pan with the eggplant.
  3. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and sauté the onions and celery until soft.
  4. Add the capers and give it a quick mix with the vegetables.
  5. Add the tomato paste, sugar, water and vinegar. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add to the eggplant and peppers.
  6. Add the pignoli nuts and olives and cook for 5 minutes, stir to blend the flavors.
  7. Note that salt is not included in this recipe. The capers and olives are salty. When it is cooked - TASTE and then add salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Cool before serving. Caponata will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator. I'm sure it will not be in the refrig for that long. It is so delicious it will not be left over.
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1 Review

foodforthought
foodforthought August 2, 2018
Used this recipe but grilled the eggplant and peppers instead of sauteeing. This caponata came out much better (to my taste) than my last batch which used much more vinegar. We're awash in eggplant right now so probably made much more than we can practically consume soon on bruschetta, pasta and pizza. Will see how it freezes.Suspect it'll work as well as last year's Strega Nona batch of ratattouille...