Caponata (Stewed Mediterranean Vegetables)
Caponata is a Sicilian dish of mixed vegetables traditionally cooked in oil and vinegar and flavoured with sugar, raisins, capers, olives and pine nuts. It's tangy, sweet, crunchy and salty all at the same time. Serve at room temperature as a side dish to grilled fish or as a entree on toasted bread. Store leftovers in fridge and reheat gently. It will taste even better the next day!
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 2 celery stalks, chopped into 1/2 cm pieces
- 1 medium eggplant, chopped into 2cm cubes
- 2 zucchini, chopped into 2cm cubes
- 2 red or yellow capsicums, sliced into strips
- 1/2 cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup (125ml) white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 400ml tomato passata
- salt, to taste
- 1 handful of raisins
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 teaspoon brined capers
- 1 handful black olives, pitted
- 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Directions
Preparation:25min ›
Cook:30min ›
Ready in:55min
- Blanch the celery in salted water for 1 minute; drain.
- Heat oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat; add onion and celery and cook for a few minutes until golden. Add eggplant, capsicum and zucchini; continue to cook for a few minutes longer. Stir in vinegar, sugar and tomato passata; cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add raisins, pine nuts, capers and olives. Season to taste; continue to cook for a few more minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in chopped basil and allow to cool.
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Reviews and Ratings
Global Ratings:
(4)
Reviews in English (3)
I had never heard of caponata until I plugged eggplant and zucchini into the Allrecipes search and this came up. My goodness, it's DELICIOUS. I followed the recipe exactly, except I didn't boil the celery ahead of time (wasn't sure what the point was since I was going to saute it again anyway???). Also, I couldn't find fresh basil that looked good so I used 1/2 tsp. dried, and while I was at it added 1/2 tsp. dried oregano and a few springs of fresh rosemary that I had to use up. The result was a savory, sweet, delicious vegetable dish that I ate as a main course. I will definitely make this again, hopefully with fresh basil so I can try it exactly as written. - 07 Aug 2018 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
delicious! especially with sun ripened vegetables - 21 Aug 2017 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
Authentic, classic recipe. The first time I had this it was alongside burrata and it is an excellent combination. Toss leftovers with pasta or add them to risotto. Thank you for the recipe. - 19 Aug 2017 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)