The Sicilian eggplant caponata is a dish that fully belongs to the collection dedicated to Sicilian cuisine and grandma’s recipes and in Sicily there are really many variations of caponata. From Sicilian caponata with peppers to swordfish caponata, if we Sicilians have two eggplants available, rest assured we’ll prepare fantastic summer recipes with eggplant, and caponata is one of them. However, many times, before embarking on the big task of making a caponata we hesitate, because the idea of frying is not very appealing and it’s understandable! You don’t know this, but Irene and Alessio are crazy about Sicilian caponata and would eat it every day; I, on the other hand, hate the idea of frying loads of vegetables: so what do we do? We find the right compromise to make everyone happy and we bake the eggplants in the oven!! Today I will tell you how to prepare a tasty caponata without frying, baking the eggplants in the oven, and I assure you the result will have nothing to envy to the original caponata with its intense sweet-and-sour flavor! Don’t believe it? Follow me into the kitchen and you’ll see I won’t disappoint you this time either! Let’s prepare together the Sicilian caponata without frying, but as always before we roll up our sleeves I remind you that if you want to stay updated on my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile.

Do you love caponata? Check out these recipes:

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very inexpensive
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Stove, Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Autumn

Ingredients to make eggplant caponata without frying

6.6 lb eggplants
2 cups onion (sliced)
1.5 cups celery (about 3 stalks)
1/2 cup tomato passata (homemade passata or 3 tbsp tomato paste)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (about 4 tbsp)
2.5 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup raisins
1.8 oz olives (in brine or packed in oil (about 10 olives))
3 tbsp pine nuts
to taste extra virgin olive oil

Tools

Baking tray
Skillet
Oven

Preparation

Rinse the eggplants, peel them and cut them into chunks (if you don’t peel them the caponata will become much darker and in any case the skin will be tough). Put them in a very large baking tray, drizzle generously with oil, sprinkle with salt and bake in the oven — preferably convection — at 392°F for 30 minutes, stirring often. Using a large tray the eggplants will dry better, releasing less water.
Slice the onions after peeling and rinsing them, add a generous drizzle of olive oil and let them soften and caramelize over medium heat in a large skillet. The onion should cook and caramelize, so stir often and be careful not to burn; if necessary add a little water to finish cooking.
While the eggplants and onions are cooking, trim the celery of its outer strings (with a knife or a vegetable peeler) and blanch it in water and vinegar, then add it to the onions.
Push the celery and onions to one side of the pan, add the pine nuts and toast them in the same pan before mixing them with the rest of the ingredients along with the olives and the tomato.
Add the raisins, stir and add the vinegar and the sugar, cook over high heat until the mixture has reduced,
then finish by adding the roasted eggplants, now cooked.
Put everything back on the stove for 5 minutes over high heat (you may want to add a little water if it seems too dry for your taste) and the caponata is ready.
Let it rest at least two hours before tasting it, but you know caponata the longer it rests the better it is.
Don’t forget to add a few basil leaves to the caponata once it’s cool.