My Sicilian Caponata

Today, I take you to my homeland, Sicily, with this dish full of flavor and taste. I will show you the recipe both in the classic way, that is, in a pot, and with the Thermomix.

This is a legendary dish of Sicilian tradition.

Every family has its recipe that has been passed down from mother to daughter for centuries.

My caponata has an Aeolian touch since the recipe is from my grandmother Maria, who was from Panarea. I followed her directions.

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Cost: Very economical
Rest time: 3 Hours
Preparation time: 40 Minutes
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian Regional
Seasonality: All Seasons

367.97 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 367.97 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 22.03 (g) of which sugars 12.65 (g)
Proteins 3.42 (g)
Fat 20.28 (g) of which saturated 2.87 (g)of which unsaturated 6.56 (g)
Fibers 6.66 (g)
Sodium 621.66 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

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1.1 lbs eggplants
1 onion
to taste vegetable oil
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 cups celery (only the light stalks)
3.5 oz green olives in brine (I make them at home)
1 oz salt-cured capers (desalted)
to taste salt
2 tbsp vinegar
1.5 tbsp sugar (or 1.5 tbsp erythritol)
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
7 oz tomatoes (ripe)
0.6 cups tomato puree
to taste basil

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Tools

What we need

1 Knife
1 Pan or the Thermomix
1 Cutting board

Steps

My Sicilian Caponata

Let’s prepare the eggplants.
Wash the eggplants, remove the stem, then cut them into slices about 0.5 inch thick, then cut into cubes.
Place the cubes in a bowl with water and salt (about a handful), and let them rest for about 30 minutes to purge them of their vegetation liquid.
After this time, transfer the eggplants to a colander for 30 minutes, then rinse, squeeze well, and pat dry with a tea towel.
Let’s fry the eggplants:
Pour some vegetable oil into a pan and bring it to a high temperature, then fry the eggplants until golden.
Meanwhile, as they fry
put them in a colander to drain.
While the eggplants lose excess oil, proceed with the recipe:
Peel the onion and chop it coarsely, place it in a non-stick pan with the olive oil, and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add the capers, green olives, all while the onion fries, and the chopped celery.
If you wish, you can also add a minced fennel frond to the sauté, and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, always stirring.
After these minutes, add the chopped tomatoes,
and the tomato puree, stir and cook for 3 minutes.
In the meantime, in a bowl, mix the vinegar with the cocoa and sugar or sweetener (depending on whether you want a diet dish or not).
If you don’t want to use cocoa, just mix vinegar and sugar
Now it’s time to add the eggplant cubes that we had previously cooked to the pan
Mix well, let cook for another 5 minutes and then…
…and, deglaze with the vinegar mixture.
Stir and let cook for 4 minutes. At this point, you need to taste for salt, because the capers will have already flavored well, otherwise add a bit more,
Serve cold with plenty of basil, better if the next day, here is the caponata ready
Place the celery inside the basket and
the eggplants cut into 0.8-inch cubes. Set aside.
Place the extra virgin olive oil and the onion in the bowl, chop: 3 sec./speed 7. Gather on the bottom with the spatula.
Sauté: 3 min./250°F/reverse/speed 1. with the splash guard instead of the measuring cup
Add the sugar or sweetener, 1 teaspoon of salt, the olives, the capers, the vinegar, 1 teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa, the chopped tomatoes, the tomato puree, and the basil.
Place the basket, put the lid with the splash guard, and cook 25 min./212°F/reverse/speed 1.
After cooking, use the spatula to remove the basket and transfer its contents into the bowl, cook without the measuring cup: 5 min./212°F/reverse/speed spoon
Transfer the caponata into a baking dish, and serve it cold, better if the next day.