Caponata

Aubergine and celery fried separately and brought together in a sweet-sour sauce, eaten cold.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 800 g aubergines, in 3 cm cubes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 sticks celery, in 2 cm pieces
• 1 onion, sliced
• 150 ml olive oil
• 400 g tinned tomatoes, crushed
• 80 g green olives, stoned
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 40 g pine nuts, toasted

Method

1. Salt the aubergine and leave it in a colander for 45 minutes, then squeeze and blot it dry.
2. FRY EACH VEGETABLE SEPARATELY. The aubergine first, in most of the oil, until deep brown; then the celery, which needs only 4 minutes and should keep its snap; then the onion slowly until soft. Cooked together, the celery goes limp while the aubergine is still raw and the whole thing becomes a stew.
3. Return the onion to the pan with the tomatoes, olives and capers and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and pour it in. Let it bubble hard for 2 minutes so the sharpness in the air goes and the sweetness stays.
5. Fold the aubergine and celery back through, off the heat.
6. COOL IT COMPLETELY AND LEAVE IT A DAY. Warm, the vinegar is all you taste; cold and rested, it settles into the sweet-sour balance the dish is for. Scatter the pine nuts on at the last moment so they stay crisp.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes