Caponata

Eggplants were cheap at the store. They're great (and great for a low calorie dish) in a ton of ways; grilled, sauted, as a dip, breaded and fried and in various vegetable stew concoctions. Caponata is the Sicilian version of stewed eggplant.

I have improvised something like this many times but never caught the importance of the vinegar and capers in the dish. I'm glad I did. Atop crusty bread, it was almost impossible not to eat it all. I used this epicurious recipe as my guide.

A lot of eggplant preparations start with salting and draining. I have yet to have the gain outweigh the effort. I never do. As usual, this recipe is as I cooked it.

Caponata

Not exactly sure why I chose this jaunty angle.

3 eggplants, chopped into 1 inch dice
salt
3/4 cups olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced thinly
2 - 3 tablespoons capers, drained if in brine, rinsed if in salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 15 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
1/3 cup vinegar

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Cook the onion and celery, stirring occasionally, until browned. Stir in the capers and sugar and cook for a minute or two more. Add the tomatoes and their juice and the vinegar. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile salt the eggplant generously. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and cook half of the eggplant, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides and cooked through. remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat with second half of eggplant.

Spread the eggplant out in a tray or dish and cover with the onion, celery, tomato, caper, vinegar mixture. Cover with a clean dish towel and leave at room temperature for 8 hours for the flavors to meld. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

This is definitely going to be added to my repertoire of crusty bread toppings and is now my second favorite eggplant preparation (behind Parmesan). Tasty!

Shrimp13