Eggplant Caponata

As I may have mentioned, virtually every time I’m in the grocery, I buy an eggplant. And probably a good 30% of those eggplants are subsequently converted into caponata, one of my favorite side salads/bread toppings. Like most Italian dishes, caponata has an array of styles and variations ranging from a coarse, oily chop to a smoother, silkier paste. My personal favorite is a strong, rich, tomatoey caponata with a deep red color that is sure to stain your clothes. White-wearers beware.

One nice thing about caponata is its versatility. It’s delicious on virtually any kind of bread, tasty by itself or alongside a mild cheese (especially goat cheese, one of my favorite flavor duos ever), and it goes well with most Italian, Mediterranean, and even Middle-Eastern flavors.

This time, I forgot to buy parsley (pardon its absence in the photos) but I attained an even richer flavor than usual by using a dollop of roasted garlic paste I made earlier in the week: I coated whole garlic bulbs in olive oil, roasted them on low heat for ages, then mashed the softened cloves with salt and pepper.

Ingredients
Makes enough for many meals

1 large onion, diced

Several celery stalks, diced

1 medium/large eggplant, cubed

1 red bell pepper, diced (optional)

1 6-oz can of tomato paste

4-5 ripe tomatoes -- or, in winter, a large 28-oz can of diced tomatoes with juice

2-3 cloves crushed garlic

About 3/4 c green pitted olives, whole or sliced

About 1/4 c capers

About 1/8 c balsamic vinegar
About 1/4 c olive juice

A dash of caper juice

About 1 1/2 tsp sugar

About 1 tsp salt

Black pepper to taste

A handful of minced flatleaf parsley

Lots of olive oil

The “about” in my instructions starts to get redundant after a while – just keep in mind that, as I articulated in an earlier entry, I do all my cooking by taste and I advocate intuitive use of quantities. Start out with the approximate quantities I’ve listed here, then adjust seasonings to balance the sweetness (sugar), tartness (vinegar), and saltiness (either olive juice or, of course, salt).

Start out by sautéing* the onions in olive oil for a few minutes, then adding tomato paste, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Continue to sauté until the tomato paste turns a darker shade.

One of the most fragrant beginnings I know.

 

Add the diced celery and bell pepper (if using) and stir. After cooking for a couple minutes, add the cubed eggplant, coat with the tomato paste, and add another hefty swoop of olive oil, making sure the mixture is moist enough for the eggplants to soften.

The grand addition of our star vegetable.

Add the chopped tomatoes along with the garlic. Allow the tomatoes to break down and the eggplant to soften, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.

Add the olives, capers, olive and caper juice, and the balsamic vinegar. Simmer for a while longer until the mixture becomes deep red and the eggplant is fully cooked.

I've just eaten this stuff for the last three meals and the photo still makes me hungry.

Turn off heat. Season with sugar, salt and pepper to taste (using caution with the salt – there’s quite a bit of salt already in the olive juice). Continue to balance seasonings using salt, vinegar and sugar until the caponata has a bold flavor (but try not to overpower the natural tomato-ey-ness). Stir in fresh parsley.

This recipe – along with most anything that involves cooked tomatoes – tastes best the next day. It's fine either warm or cold from the fridge, but I like it best at room temperature with warm bread.

*Now that I’m studying French (mais oui!) this word seems a little silly, with the accent aigu and the anglicized "ing"... maybe it should be a fully anglicized "sawtaying"?