Caponata

This delicious appetizer goes well on crackers or bread. It has just enough zip to be interesting but isn't spicy.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 2 pounds

Author Laura

Ingredients

2 pounds eggplant, peeled and cut into tiny cubes about 2 medium or 1 large eggplants – cut into tiny (½ inch) cubes
2 cups celery, finely chopped about 6 stalks
¾ cup onion, finely chopped about 1 medium onion
½ cup olive oil, divided
⅓ cup red wine vinegar
3 teaspoons sugar
1-28 ounce can, good quality Italian-style Roma tomatoes (reserve liquid)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 large or 18 small green olives, pitted - rinsed and sliced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons pine (pignola) nuts - optional
2-3 tablespoons capers, rinsed

Instructions

Place the eggplant cubes into a colander set over a bowl and salt them well. (I use about 2 teaspoons of salt. Don’t be concerned about eating all this salt; you’ll rinse this salt off – it helps drain the water out of the eggplant.) Toss the cubes and salt with your hands. Set aside.
Heat half the oil (¼ cup) in the large pan until it is hot but not smoking. Put the chopped celery in the pan and cook it over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Don’t let it burn, so if the celery is getting browned, turn the heat down. When the celery first cooks, it turns a bright green, then the color lightens as the celery continues to cook.
Add the chopped onions and continue cooking (and stirring) for another 8-10 minutes until the onion is almost transparent. Turn off the heat.
Go back to the eggplant and run the cubes (in the colander) under cold water, tossing them with your hands and pressing them until you have thoroughly rinsed the salt out. Press the cubes again, to drain out as much water as possible.
Rinse/dry the bowl (that the colander sat on) and transfer the celery/onion mixture into it.
Heat the other ¼ cup of oil in the now-empty pan. Once it is hot but not smoking, add the eggplant cubes. Sauté them, stirring every few minutes, for 15-20 minutes.
Return the celery/onion mixture to the pan with the eggplant and mix them together.
Mix the vinegar and sugar, then add them to the pan, along with the canned tomatoes (without the juice), the tomato paste, and sliced olives.
Stir the mixture until it is well combined, gently breaking up the tomatoes with the spoon. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer it (uncovered) for 15 minutes, stirring just every once in a while to keep it from sticking. As the caponata cools, add salt and pepper to taste. Once it is cool, add the pine nuts and/or capers.

Recipe Notes

For the eggplant, celery, and onion, don’t stress over total uniformity as you chop, but try to get the pieces as small as possible. Keep in mind that spreading caponata on a cracker is not easy if the pieces are too big. The pieces will diminish in size slightly, but not much during preparation and they remain distinct. The easiest and most efficient way to cut these vegetables is to make slice, then chop, holding several slices together.