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Since that instance many years ago, we’ve received a slew of complements on
our caponata, an Italian staple. It is always one of the first offerings to
get “quaffed” at an afternoon get together.
What’s so great about it? Well, it’s extremely tasty, how
about that? And, you won’t find it all that often, either. That’s too bad.
Try this caponata recipe and you’ll see why it gets so many complements.
New Italian Recipes Presents:
Italian Eggplant Caponata
Caponata Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, chopped into ¾ inch pieces
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped into small pieces 3-5 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
1 cup homemade
Italian tomato sauce.
¼ cup red wine
3 T capers
¼ black olives, chopped
3 T balsamic vinegar
½ t cocoa powder
2 T turbinado sugar
¼ cup fresh chopped basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation:
Place the eggplant cubes in a colander and apply about 2 T of salt. Shake
the colander to coat the eggplant evenly with the salt.
Set the colander in the sink and put a plate inside the
colander so it is in direct contact with the eggplant.
Place a weight, such as some heavy canned goods on the plate
so the plate will press down on the eggplant. (The purpose is to squeeze
some of the sometimes bitter juices out of the eggplant. (About a half an
hour process.)
Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
Wipe off the eggplant to remove as much of the salt and
clinging juices as you can.
Spread the eggplant on a greased cookie sheet and bake for
35 minutes. The eggplant should be nice and brown by now.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet to medium.
Add the onions and sauté for about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic, black olives and capers and cook another 2-3
minutes.
In a small sauce pan, combine the balsamic vinegar and the
sugar. Heat over medium until the sugar dissolves.
Add the balsamic vinegar/sugar and the red wine to the
eggplant mixture and reduce the liquid by half.
Add the roasted eggplant, basil and the cocoa powder. Cook a
minute or two to combine.
Add the tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. The mixture
should be thickened to “dip” consistency.
The caponata is best if refrigerated overnight and brought
back to room temperature before serving.
Serve the dip with toasted garlic, pita slices. Garlic toast
will suffice in lieu of pita bread.
Caponata is unusual enough, that unless you are decidedly
Italian, you may not have ever had it. Now you can.
Note: If eggplant is not your favorite thing, try this with
chopped artichoke hearts. Just add the pieces to the onions to start this
dish and cook exactly the same way!
Buon appetito always!
Brought to you with love from
Aunt Aletha and Dear Old Dave
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