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Caponata

Ready in 50 mins

Recipe by Graham 

Caponata is a Sicilian aubergine dish consisting of chopped, fried eggplant and celery seasoned with sweetened vinegar and capers. Caponata is typically used as a side dish for fish dishes and very often on its own as an appetizer. Numerous local variations of the ingredients exist so I hope you'll enjoy my own version of this classic sweet and sour aubergine (eggplant) dish that is rich and sweetened with caramelized onions and sultanas

Preparation Time

20 Minutes

Cooking Time

30 Minutes

Ingredients for Caponata

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Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements

To serve 4:

1¼ lb aubergines (eggplants)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
4 sticks celery
2 cloves garlic
14oz can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato purée (tomato paste)
2 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons sultanas (golden raisins)
8 black olives (pitted)
8 green olives (pitted)
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  salt and pepper

How to Cook Caponata

  1. In preparation, dice the aubergines (eggplants) into 1" (2.5cm) cubes, sprinkle them with salt and set aside. Peel and chop the onion, chop the celery, peel and chop the garlic and finely chop the black olives.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (skillet), add the onion, celery and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes. Pour boiling water over the aubergines (eggplants), drain well then add to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
  3. Add the tomatoes, tomato puré (tomato paste), sugar, black olives and sultanas (golden raisins) and simmer for 5-10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated or caramelized.
  4. Leave until cold then stir in the remaining ingredients - whole green olives (pitted), capers and red wine vinegar. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and serve with warm pitta bread cut into fingers.
GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
To add an extra dimension to this dish, add ½ cup of finely shredded basil and 2 tablespoons of pine nuts to the finished mix.