Hottest summer in recorded history here in Italy…and not only. The heat dulls appetites and so most of our summetime dinners these days are centered on simple vegetable dishes. Eggplants in our garden often star in la caponata, Sicilian vegetable goodness.
I’ve shared the recipe for this Sicilian vegtable highlight in my blog https://www.annesitaly.com/recipes/caponata-di-melanzane/
Another version of la caponata here: https://www.annesitaly.com/2018/09/05/recipe-for-caponata-alla-melina-sicily-linked-to-umbria/
….and here’s a recent YouTube video on making the caponata: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qkkSz2gwA8Y
During the years I taught cooking classes in the wintertime months in the U:S., la caponata was sometimes on the menu – as you can see here: https://www.annesitaly.com/2016/03/22/seventh-time-around-in-washington-d-c/
….and here:
On a recent summer night, in our Assisi farmhouse kitchen, I set out all ingredients for la caponata: capers, tomatoes, diced white onion, celery tidbits, pitted olives, eggplant:
I’d rinsed some of the capperi sotto sale (“capers in salt”) that we always bring back when in Sicily:
I’d cut the eggplant into cubes….
….before soaking in heavily-salted water (to leach out the bitterness) for about 20 minutes, then rinsing well and setting aside to dry:
When dry, I then browned the eggplant cubes in sizzling olive oil…and then set them aside on paper towel….
I then fried gently (in the same pan but with very little olive oil) the celery and diced white onion. After sauteeing the two briefly, I stirred in the pitted olives, tomatoes and capers:
The fried eggplant chunks followed:
Final step? I stirred about a tablespon or more of sugar into a glass of white wine vinegar to make a sweet-and-sour sauce to pour in as conclusion to our caponata:
I tested the mixture for salt – and added just a bit of sale grosso (“big salt,” i.e., coarse salt which we always use in cooking):
Easy and quick summer goodness.
Buon appetito!
trying now; grazie!