Caponata is an eggplant dish from Sicilian cuisine. It typically includes a variety of cooked vegetables and fruits with a sweet and sour sauce called agrodolce.

Caponata is usually served cold. It is often a side dish and can be served alongside a main dish, on toast, or even over pasta.

Some variations include seafood such as octopus or other ingredients like asparagus. Caponata may have actually evolved from a similar dish made with fish.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 eggplant, peeled and cubed
• 1 tomato, diced
• 8 green olive, pitted and chopped
• 1 tsp caper, rinsed
• 1 tsp pine nut (optional)
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• salt
• basil (optional)

Directions

• sauté or roast eggplant until browned, about 10 minutes
• set aside
• sauté onion, celery until browned, 5 to 10 minutes
• add tomato, olive, caper
• simmer
• add vinegar, salt
• simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes
• add eggplant, pine nut
• let cool
• garnish with basil (optional)
• serve