Sicilian Sweet and Sour Eggplant — Caponata Siciliana
The Sicilian sweet-and-sour caponata of fried aubergine tossed with celery, onion, capers, green olives, pine nuts, and raisins in a tomato-and-vinegar sweet-sour glaze, served at room temperature with crusty bread to soak the agrodolce juices.
Italian
Categories
Nutrition per Serving
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Instructions
Prep
Cut 640g aubergine into 1.5cm cubes. Salt with 2 tsp fine sea salt in a colander, rest 15 minutes to draw out bitter juices, then pat completely dry on kitchen paper. Dice 120g celery into 1cm pieces. Finely slice 200g yellow onion. Halve 60g pitted green olives. Rinse 2 tbsp salted capers. Soak 40g golden raisins in 1/4 cup warm water 5 minutes, drain. Lightly toast 30g pine nuts. Chop 4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley. Tear 12 fresh basil leaves. Slice and lightly toast 120g crusty bread.
Fry
Heat 10 tbsp light olive oil in a wide deep pan over medium-high heat 1 minute. Fry aubergine in two batches, 5–6 minutes per batch, turning occasionally, until deeply golden on all sides. Lift onto kitchen paper to drain.
Saute
Reduce heat to medium. Pour off most frying oil, leaving 3–4 tbsp. Add diced celery, cook 4 minutes until softening at edges. Add sliced onion, cook 6–7 minutes until soft and translucent.
Build
Stir in halved olives, capers, pine nuts, and drained raisins. Cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add 300g tomato passata, 0.5 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp black pepper, and 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Cook 5 minutes, stirring, until tomato darkens.
Glaze
Pour in 6 tbsp red wine vinegar and sprinkle 2 tbsp caster sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves and sauce turns glossy. Return fried aubergine to pan, stir gently to coat. Cook 3 minutes uncovered until aubergine absorbs flavours. Stir in half the parsley and half the basil off heat.
Rest and plate
Rest caponata at room temperature 10 minutes. Divide between two wide shallow bowls. Drizzle with remaining 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, scatter remaining parsley and basil. Serve with toasted bread alongside.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.