Caponatina, the best way to start off any Italian dinner

Caponatina. Whether you're having a dinner party, making an appetizer spread for New Year's Eve or just cooking up your average Sunday dinner, caponatina is a great addition. It's a more finely chopped variation of caponata, an eggplant dish that is usually served as an entree, and is great on bruschetta or crackers.  You can buy the canned or jar variety, but here's a great recipe for those of you who prefer home cooking:

Ingredients

4 medium eggplants (peeled and diced)
1 1/2 cups olive oil
4 onions, sliced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
4 stalks celery (diced)
12 green olives (pitted and diced)
12 large black olives - not purple Kalamata -(pitted and diced)
1 Tablespoon pine nuts
1/2 cup wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Fry diced eggplant in 1 cup olive oil until nicely browned. Remove from skillet
2. Add remaining olive oil and onions, browning gently over medium heat.
3. Add tomato sauce and celery and cook until tender. Add water if necessary, careful to maintain the consistency of the sauce.
4. Add capers, olives, pine nuts, and fried egglant.
5. Heat vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Allow to simmer appoximately 20 minutes or until flavors have become less sharp and individually defined.
8. Cool to room temperature before serving and store leftovers, covered, in the refigerator.
9. The recipe may be doubled as the dish itself stands well and even improves over time. As presented, this recipe will serve 4 when served bruschetta style on toast points.
10. Additionally, the dish may be garnished with sprigs of fresh parsley or basil and olives. Serve with a side salad and a glass of Sicilian table wine.

-Mike

Comments

[Dominic]

Yum! Grazie tanto, Mike! Your recipe is just the way my late Nonna Rosa used to make it!

Nowadays, I make do with imported caponata from Palermo - not bad, just not the same.