Caponata is an Italian dish that I had eaten just once before I decided to make it. The caponata I had eaten had a very mild taste, and I don’t like mild flavors, but I love eggplants, so I decided to make the dish also because the mix of ingredients inspired me a lot. I reduced the quantity of olive oil and the result was really good! Try it and tell me all about it :-)
In two words:“The sun during sunset is so beautiful,
Only, the sunset is too close!”
difficulty – easy
preparation– 30’
cooking - 30'
serves - 2
Ingredients
- ½ a celery branch
- 1 big eggplant
- ¼ onion of medium size
- ¼ of a big clove of garlic
- 20gr of capers
- 40gr of green olives without the stone
- 10gr of dried raisins
- 10gr of pine nuts
- 25ml of white wine vinegar
- 100ml of tomato puree
- 2 teaspoons of caster sugar
- ¼ of a bunch of basil
- ½ teaspoon of fleur de sel or coarse salt
- 10 turn mills of Kampot black pepper
- 8 teaspoons of olive oil
- 4 teaspoons of fromage blanc or Greek yogurt (optional)
Steps
- Wash and cut celery in 3
- Boil some water in a small pan
- Add the celery branches and let them boil for 2’-3’
- Take the celery off the pan and let it cool a little bit
- Slice the celery in semi-rounds
- Wash the eggplant and remove its top
- Slice the eggplant in slices and then dice each slice in small cubes; separate the cubes in two bowls
- Wash and dice the onion in small cubes
- Put the raisins into a bowl with water to help them plump up and rehydrate
- Heat-up a casserole and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- Add the eggplant cubes from the 1st bowl and stir until they reduce in size and become a bit brown
- Remove the eggplant cubes out of the casserole and put them in their bowl
- Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil into the casserole again
- Add the eggplant cubes of the 2th bowl and stir until they become a bit brown and reduce in size
- Remove the 2th eggplant cubes and put them in their bowl
- Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil into the casserole
- Stir in the onion until it becomes a bit brown
- Add the garlic already pressed and stir in
- Add 1 teaspoon of caster sugar and caramelize the onions
- Remove casserole from heat
- Heat-up a pan
- Add the pine nuts and toast them a bit; remove from heat
- Wash and chisel the basil
- Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil into the casserole and put it back to heat
- Add the celery and stir in until it loses its crunchiness
- Add capers, olives and pine nuts
- Stir all ingredients together and add 1 teaspoon of caster sugar; continue to stir until they caramelize a bit
- Add the vinegar and stir in until it evaporates a bit
- Add the eggplant cubes and stir in
- Add the tomato puree and stir again
- Remove the water from the raisins et add them into the casserole
- Add salt, pepper and basil
- Let it simmer for a little while
- Serve with a bit of fromage blanc de brebis or Greek yogurt, if you like it, and some bread
Inspiration
A recipe from the book Légumes : l’école de cuisine : les cuisines de la cuillère d’argent, Phaidon, Paris, 2016, p. 96
The English version of this book is as follows (at least it has the same cover as in French edition) Vegetables: Italian cooking school: The Silver Spoon Kitchen, Phaidon Press Limited, London, New York, 2016.
o-o C'est si bon ! o-o
