Rosalia's Eggplant Caponatina (Little Caponata)

Recipe below...

Caponata is a traditional Sicilian sweet-and-sour antipasto of cooked eggplant, typically served cold or at room temperature. The name caponatina, or "little caponata", reflects the small dice of the eggplant.

About 4 years ago, my friend Gail brought this caponatina, served bruschetta-style, to our Philadelphia-area supper club. The explosion of sweet and sour flavors is unforgettable to this day. Below is Gail's family recipe, passed down from her Sicilian grandmother, Rosalia.

Tender eggplant serves as a veritable flavor sponge, absorbing the tastes of sweet onion and tangy tomato sauce. Rosalia's Caponatina will make even the most ardent eggplant skeptic into a believer.

Notes:

This make-ahead dish tastes best when served at room temperature, so it's the perfect recipe to bring to a party or to serve as a bruschetta-style appetizer to your guests.
Caponatina may be made the day before and refrigerated; the flavors will marry and intensify overnight.
Serve the caponatina bruschetta-style on toasted bread, as an accompaniment to fish, alone as a cold salad, or tossed with pasta.
The recipe yields a large amount of caponatina. Leftovers can be frozen in jars or plastic containers for later use. Leave about 1 1/2" of room at the top of each container before freezing.

The Recipe:

4 medium eggplants with skins on, washed and diced
1 1/2 cups olive oil
4 sweet yellow onions, sliced
2 cups tomato sauce, preferably homemade
4 large stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
Salt and black pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, saute onions and eggplant in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, in 2-3 batches, until quite tender. Dice eggplant only when ready to saute the next batch. Remove each cooked batch to a large bowl. Add homemade tomato sauce to the eggplant mixture. Place celery in a separate, small saucepan, with enough water to cover. Cook over medium heat until tender, drain, and add to mixture. Use the same small pan to heat the vinegar and sugar, over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add to the mixture and stir well to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Can be served cold, but for optimal flavor, serve at room temperature on slices of Italian bread or French baguette. To toast the bread, brush with a little olive oil and broil for 1-2 minutes per side, or place on a hot grill pan for about 1-2 minutes per side.

Caponatina may also be used as a side dish alone or with fish.

Makes about 20 side-dish sized servings, or enough to top 80 to 100 baguette slices (4-5" long).

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Comments

[Tina]

Extraordinarily tasty!! It's a big wow, and everybody loved it!

[Beverly Gray]

This recipe is exactly what I need for this Saturday's "Last Outside Days of Fall" menu.

I've alredy printed it and made a list of ingresients.

The colors are so Autumn and the flavors will blend in beautifully with everything I plan to serve.

Thanks again 3zestylemons.

My cookbook grows.

[Bobbi Mendez]

Tasty yet so easy to make, but everyone will think it's complex. Doing small batches of the saute, my two older children each got a chance to prepare and saute the ingredients! All in all, a great recipe! Thanks for sharing!