Sicilian Eggplant Caponata: A Savory-Sweet Vegetable Delight

Italian style dinner — delight your taste buds! Sicilian eggplant caponata is a hearty appetizer of roasted vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce. It is excellent both hot and cold! You will fall in love with this dish instantly!
cook time: 30 min
Zoe Kendrick
Sicilian Eggplant Caponata: A Savory-Sweet Vegetable Delight

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

119
Calories
11g
Fat
6g
Carbs
1g
Protein

Ingredients (4 portions)

Basic:

Onion 100 g
Garlic 1 clove
Tomatoes 200 g
Olive oil 4 tbsp
Sugar 0.25 tsp
Olives (or olives) 2 tbsp
Vegetable oil (for frying eggplant) 30 g
Dry spices 1 tsp
Vinegar (balsamic, wine or herbal vinegar.) 1 tbsp
bell pepper 120 g
Capers 1 tbsp
Eggplant 300 g
Celery stalk (50 gr.) 1 pc

Recipe instructions

Step 1

Step 1
How to make Sicilian vegetable caponata from eggplant? Prepare the necessary ingredients. For the brightness and beauty of the dish, it is recommended to use peppers of different colors. I used 5% vinegar. You can also use balsamic, wine or herbal vinegar. Wash all vegetables well under running water.

Step 2

Step 2
Cut the eggplants into medium pieces. If you have large fruits, first cut them into circles, then cut each circle into 2 or 4 parts. Sprinkle the eggplants with salt and cover with water. Nowadays, eggplants that taste bitter are becoming less common, but I advise you not to neglect this step, since after soaking in salt water during frying, eggplants absorb significantly less oil.

Step 3

Step 3
Remove the seeds and stem from the peppers, and cut the pulp into strips or feathers, as in the photo.

Step 4

Step 4
Cut the celery into rings no more than 3 millimeters wide.

Step 5

Step 5
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan; determine the amount by eye. Read about how to choose a frying pan, as well as how to choose the right oil, in separate articles, links at the end of the recipe. Drain the eggplants and squeeze them lightly. Place the eggplants in the pan and fry, stirring constantly, until golden brown. This will take approximately 5 minutes. Then place the cooked eggplants on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Step 6

Step 6
Peel the onion and garlic and rinse in cold water. Cut the onion into feathers and finely chop the garlic. I used red onion, you can use regular onion.

Step 7

Step 7
Cut the tomatoes into cubes. The skin can be removed first. To do this, make a cross-shaped cut on the tomatoes and pour boiling water over them for a minute or two. Then you can easily remove the skin from them. I used regular tomatoes and cherry tomatoes (they are sweeter and richer in the winter season).

Step 8

Step 8
Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan. Add pepper and celery to hot oil. Stirring constantly, fry the vegetables for about 5 minutes.

Step 9

Step 9
Next add the onion and garlic and continue stirring. Cook everything together for another 3-5 minutes.

Step 10

Step 10
Add tomatoes to the pan. Add salt (be careful with salt, as the olives and capers, which will be added at the end of cooking, are already salty). Also add a pinch of sugar, ground allspice and red pepper, chili pepper to taste, dry basil and vinegar. Stir and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Step 11

Step 11
Add eggplants to the vegetables.

Step 12

Step 12
Next, add the olives and capers (the olives can be cut into slices or halves if desired). Mix everything carefully again, cover with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Step 13

Step 13
Remove the finished dish from the stove and let it brew for a while under the lid.

Additional rubrics

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