Italian Eggplant Caponata How to prepare
Caponata Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, chopped into ¾ inch pieces
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped into small pieces 3-5 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
1 cup homemade Italian tomato sauce.
¼ cup red wine
3 T capers
¼ black olives, chopped
3 T balsamic vinegar
½ t cocoa powder
2 T turbinado sugar
¼ cup fresh chopped basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Place the eggplant cubes in a colander and apply about 2 T of salt.
Shake the colander to coat the eggplant evenly with the salt.
Set the colander in the sink and put a plate inside the colander so
it is in direct contact with the eggplant.
Place a weight, such as some heavy canned goods on the plate so the
plate will press down on the eggplant. (The purpose is to squeeze
some of the sometimes bitter juices out of the eggplant. (About a
half an hour process.)
Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
Wipe off the eggplant to remove as much of the salt and clinging juices
as you can.
Spread the eggplant on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes.
The eggplant should be nice and brown by now.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet to medium.
Add the onions and sauté for about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic, black olives and capers and cook another 2-3 minutes.
In a small sauce pan, combine the balsamic vinegar and the sugar.
Heat over medium until the sugar dissolves.
Add the balsamic vinegar/sugar and the red wine to the eggplant mixture
and reduce the liquid by half.
Add the roasted eggplant, basil and the cocoa powder. Cook a minute
or two to combine.
Add the tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. The mixture should
be thickened to “dip” consistency.
The caponata is best if refrigerated overnight and brought back to
room temperature before serving.
Serve the dip with toasted garlic, pita slices. Garlic toast will
suffice in lieu of pita bread.
Caponata is unusual enough, that unless you are decidedly Italian,
you may not have ever had it. Now you can.
Note: If eggplant is not your favorite thing, try this with chopped
artichoke hearts. Just add the pieces to the onions to start this
dish and cook exactly the same way!
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