This is my absolute favourite at the moment. I could eat a whole bowl of this simply with warm crusty bread. A dish making Italian-style summer vegetables shine; usually served at room temperature, but in my opinion can be enjoyed warm (although not traditional).
Caponata is a sweet and sour side or salad and is similar to ratatouille but with a more distinctive flavour profile, Italians call this 'agrodolce' literally translated means 'sour' and 'sweet'. (Remember it by la dolce vita - the sweet life).
This is an ideal recipe to cook if you'd like to improve your seasoning skills and understanding on how to balance flavours.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 TO 6
1 x large brown onion
250gm celery stalks
1 x medium red capsicum
1 x medium green capsicum
Olive oil for frying
salt and pepper
1 x medium (600gm) eggplant
3 x medium garlic cloves
500gm tomatoes
1½ Tbsp capers rinsed
70gm (10) pitted green olives
2 Tbsp caster sugar or honey
2 Tbsp vinegar
COOKS NOTES
Roma tomatoes work best in this dish as they have a higher percentage of flesh to pulp (too much tomato pulp tends to dilute flavours). However, feel free to use regular tomatoes or cherry tomatoes - cherry tomatoes will need to be cut to release pulp as some is necessary to contribute to the sweet and sour sauce.
Buy small capers if possible. They add flavour without being overpowering.
I recommend using sherry vinegar, but most often used is red wine vinegar.
Use freshly ground black pepper for best result. Don't go overboard with it though as it will dominate the flavours.
Salt will balance out the sour and sweet flavours of the dish, so adjust at end of cooking if you feel the salty/sweet/sour tastes are out of balance. If you can taste one predominant flavour, it needs balancing.
METHOD
- Chop onion, capsicum and celery into medium size pieces (roughly 2½cm).
- Place medium saucepan over medium heat and add 80ml olive oil. Add above prepared vegetables, season with salt and pepper and gently fry for 8-10 minutes, until softened (no need to colour). Remove from pan.
- Meanwhile chop eggplant into same size chunks as rest of ingredients. Turn heat to high under pas and add a further 80ml olive oil. Add eggplant, season with salt and pepper and allow to colour lightly before stirring. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, turning heat down as it begins to soften.
- Crush garlic and roughly chop tomatoes. Rinse capers and roughly chop olives.
- Briefly stir garlic into eggplant to release aromas and flavour, then replace capsicum mix into pan. Add tomatoes, capers and olives. Simmer for 10 minutes, until liquid has reduced a little.
- Finally add sugar and vinegar. Stier and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning (salt, sugar and vinegar) until nicely balanced.
- Ideally serve at room temperature for a delicious warm-weather vegetable dish.
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