Appetizer Heaven - Caponata

Caponata, an Italian dish with eggplant, onions, celery, tomatoes, and olives, is one of my "go to" appetizers.  Whether I'm having a big party, need to bring a substantial contribution to a potluck, or just have a compulsion to "feed" my freezer, caponata fits the bill.  I got the original recipe from my friend Liz.  Although I have adapted the directions and certain ingredients, I think of her whenever I make it, which is often. 

Don’t be fooled when you read the ingredients – it isn’t ratatouille or tomato sauce.  Instead, caponata is a slightly sweet-and-sour, tangy mélange of vegetables that can be served with crackers or thin slices of Italian or French-style bread (baguette), as a condiment for fish or chicken, or even dabbed on pasta.  

Admittedly this recipe requires patience.  But for an investment of an hour of chopping and an hour of cooking (some of which is basically unattended), you'll be rewarded with a heaping bowl of intense homemade goodness.  Other reasons to love caponata:

1. It freezes well, so you can have it at-the-ready for that impromptu dinner party you’ve been “planning” forever, no matter when you finally make it happen.
2. Store-bought caponata is nowhere near as good and it costs a bundle.  Depending on the brand and location, I’ve find the commercially prepared versions for $3-4 for 7 ounces, which translates to $18-24 for the amount this recipe makes, compared to $6-7 for the homemade version.

If you aren’t a big fan of eggplant, don’t impose that memory of baked or fried eggplant dishes on caponata.  Here the eggplant is salted, rinsed, and dried into tiny, soft pieces that don’t overwhelm the dish in quantity, taste, or size.  Another surprise (at least to me) is the starring role that slow-cooked celery has in this dish.   The keys to this dish are the chopping (into small reasonably uniform pieces) and slow cooking stages; everything else is just commentary.

Liz's Caponata

Servings – About 5 cups (2 ½ pounds), plenty of appetizer for a crowd  Cost - $6-7 (without pinenuts, which are rather expensive)

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Bruschetta – Traditional and Otherwise

The leftover baguette sitting on the counter immediately led me to bruschetta.  This Italian antipasto or appetizer is simple; if you can cut up bread and tomatoes, you can make it.  It's great party food, an easy appetizer that makes a big impression.  

Although I would much prefer local farmers market tomatoes for a dish like this, that features tomatoes, I find that good Campari or cherry tomatoes work fine in the winter when - at least in the Mid-Atlantic states, tomatoes are not in season.  

I began, as I often do, by researching to see what the tradition version is and how others vary it.  My “go to” guide for traditional Italian food is the The Silver Spoon.  With over 1,000 pages of definitions, recipes, menus, and other Italian food-related information, the book is comprehensive, but its recipes are often unpretentious and always a good place to start when figuring out how to make Italian dishes.

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Layered Vegetable Paté

When it comes to party appetizers, I go for glitz.  Layers, garnish, a nice platter, fancy serving knife implement - I’m all about presentation.  (Remember the caviar pie?)  Especially on New Year’s Eve, party food should look elegant. 

I tried the original version of this vegetable paté several months ago.  It was lovely but plain, nice but not a “wow”  in my book.  This layered version adds color and flavor.  The layers hold together because you mold them and then refrigerate the finished paté for several hours.  The end result pleases the eye as well as the palate.

Many chefs and others I respect wax poetic over how much better home-cooked dry beans are than canned ones.  (Joe Yonan, when I make your dishes I do try to cook dry beans, honest, I do.)  But for this recipe, I used canned beans - with the other flavorings and the processing step that mashes the whole beans, I don't think it made a difference.

If you hate cleaning up, then this recipe should appeal to you; the loaf pan doesn’t get dirty and you can use the food processer twice without cleaning it in between by processing the cannellini or alubias bean mixture before the kidney beans.

Layered Vegetable Paté

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