Eggplant Caponata

The Silver Spoon is considered the encyclopaedia of Italian food, and obviously I have a copy. This recipe is inspired by a “Grandmother’s stew” among its pages.

A caponata is a traditional eggplant dish from Sicily. The recipe here is my variation, staying true to the spirit of Italian cooking with a little bit of a personal twist.

It’s a simple recipe, and makes a nice vegetarian main, best served with a nice crusty bread to soak it up. It can even act as a side to any roast meat or chicken.

Ingredients

• 500 g eggplant (the long purple ones, or small ones; not the big round ones)
• 1 large capsicum (80 g)
• 1 small onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
• 1 large red chilli pepper, seeds and all (not a very hot variety)
• A scant ½ cup of sliced green olives
• 1 teaspoon of chopped capers
• 4 largish cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• A couple of sprigs of fresh oregano or thyme
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Olive oil

Method

1. Dice the eggplant and put it in a sieve.
2. Salt the eggplant liberally and put a little weight on it to squeeze out some of the water.
3. Meanwhile, roast the capsicum over an open flame on all sides, then remove it and dunk it in cold water. You should then be able to peel off the skin. Remove the seeds and chop it into a big dice, similar in size to the eggplant.
4. Heat a pan and, when hot, add a splash of olive oil.
5. Brown the eggplant on all sides in the oil, then remove it from the pan and set aside.
6. In the same pan, add the onions and soften them over a low heat. We are not caramelising them, just softening them to remove the sharpness, so cook until they go translucent.
7. Still on a low heat, add the garlic and let it soften. Again, don’t brown it; we just want to take away the sharpness.
8. Add the thyme or oregano and the remaining ingredients except the tomato paste (eggplant, capsicum, chilli, olives and capers). If using dried oregano, don’t add it until the tomato paste goes in.
9. Mix everything together and let it cook.
10. Add the tomato paste and a scant splash of hot water. There should not be any sauce, just enough to coat the eggplant.
11. Cook for about 4–5 minutes. You are looking for the eggplant to keep its shape, but collapse with slight pressure from a fork.
12. Remove the stalks of oregano or thyme.
13. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper. Don’t add any salt before this stage, as a lot of the ingredients are salty: the salted eggplant, the capers and the olives.
14. The oil will be released as well. Remove from the heat.
15. Serve with crusty bread or over a short pasta.

Tips

1. This is one dish where I don’t recommend salting and seasoning as you go. The olives and capers have their own salt and will release it.
2. Like most braises, stews and curries, this will be better the next day.

Eat in good health!