Caponata is one of the quintessential dishes of Sicily, and so you’d think there would be a definitive version. But no such luck. The thing about Italians, food and tradition is that everyone has their own twist even on the classics, whether its a family adaptation or a regional spin. And so with a dish like caponata there are some basic ingredients and then the rest is putting your spin on it.
The staples are eggplant, capers, olives stewed in a tomato sauce. The dish is both humble and heavenly. That too is typical of Italian cooking!
This is one of those heavy southern dishes and frankly this is exactly what bread was made for, to mop up the leftover tomato sauce.
Get a large pan and heat up your olive oil. Add in your eggplant, onions, celery and garlic, season with a little salt and if you want some heat, some chili flakes, and cook on high heat for about five minutes tossing every so often so they stay fully coated in the oil. When they’ve softened and become slightly golden, add in the capers, olives and pine nuts. Give it a good stir so that all the ingredients are nicely mingling. Add in the red wine vinegar. Stir and let cook together for a few minutes. Then add in the tomatoes bring it a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for 25-30 minutes. Taste it for seasonings and if you want you can add parsley at the very end. Serve warm as a contorno, or side, or as a cold antipasto but either way with nice crusty bread to do scarpetta, or to mop up the beautiful sauce.Sicilian Caponata
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