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Caponata, a wonderful dish from southern Italy made with a lovely assortment of fresh vegetables, including eggplant.  Serve warm or cold, Caponata is perfect as a salad or an appetizer.

A bowl of Caponata next to a glass of red wine and a spoon all on a metal tray

Caponata is basically a Sicilian eggplant salad.  It’s a mixture of eggplant, onions, celery, tomatoes, olives and capers and it’s absolutely wonderful.  If you like eggplant, you will love this dish. It reminds me of slightly sweet version of ratatouille.

One thing I love about this particular recipe is that the eggplant is roasted in the oven, instead of fried or sautéed.  It’s seasoned simply with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

While the eggplant is roasting, I sauté chopped onions, celery and garlic in a pan then add in kalamata olives, capers, a can of plum tomatoes, a little sugar and a splash of white wine vinegar.  As the caponata simmers your kitchen begins to fill with the incredible aroma of fresh, seasoned vegetables cooking.  Towards the end of the cooking process, I add in the roasted eggplant which absorbs all of the glorious flavors from the dish.

Caponata on a small plate with the remainder of caponata in a bowl in the background

You can serve caponata warm over toasted slices of a baguette or with a sort of flatbread.  I prefer to eat it cold or at room temperature.  It’s lovely when paired with chicken or fish.  Caponata is can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge where the flavors will deepen further.

As for a wine pairing, I mostly enjoy reds and find that you will need a hearty wine to stand up to the deep flavors in the caponata.  A Pinot Noir would be ideal.

Caponata

By: Joanie Zisk
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
A bowl of Caponata next to a glass of red wine and a spoon all on a metal tray
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Caponata, a wonderful dish from southern Italy made with a lovely assortment of fresh vegetables, including eggplant. 

Ingredients 

  • 2 inch small or 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1- cubes (about 6 cups total)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil (plus 1 tablespoon for the pan)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 inch ribs celery, cut into 1/2- dice
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup capers, drained
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
  • 15 ounce can whole tomatoes with juice, roughly chopped

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Place eggplant on a rimmed baking sheet; drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix together and spread eggplant out in an even layer.
  • Place the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy skillet over moderately high heat.
  • Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes.
  • Add the celery and garlic and cook, stirring for another 6 minutes.
  • Add the olives, capers and sugar and cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
  • Stir in the vinegar and tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring often.
  • Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.
  • Stir in the roasted eggplant and cook for 5 minutes more.
  • Remove pan from the heat and let cool. Transfer the caponata to a serving bowl. Serve immediately or refrigerate to use the next day.

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Joanie and welcome to ZagLeft where we share favorite recipes as well as exciting travel experiences that we’ve enjoyed while always trying to take the road less traveled.

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5 from 1 vote

26 Comments

  1. I love the food at Epcot, so many great dishes you can try from all over the world. This looks amazing!

  2. My hubby is from Northern Italy and he loves this dish! Eggplant is a family favorite and we love to make this at home! Epcot sounds fun!

  3. I am loving the olives and capers in this dish! It reminds me of ratatouille except that it has those two ingredients in it. Yum!

  4. I absolutely love caponata but have always had it at restaurants or picked it up at the grocery store antipasto bar. I can’t wait to try making it at home.

  5. 5 stars
    I never know that about the employees at EPCOT 😀 Being a foodie, all I can think about is how good the food must be! Looking forward to trying this recipe for Caponata 😀

  7. I’ve never tried caponata and since I’m not going to make it to Epcot anytime soon, I had better just make it at home, right?

  8. Wow such an amazing and flavorful recipe! Looks fantastic and colorful!