Caponata
Sicilian sweet-and-sour eggplant relish with celery, olives, and capers in an agrodolce of vinegar and sugar — always served at room temperature.
The eggplant is salted and dried while the celery is blanched; then the sweet-and-sour sauce is built up before the golden cubes are folded back in. The caponata needs to cool and let the flavors come together at room temperature, not be served piping hot. The eggplant's golden sear is what determines whether the dish turns out rich and full-bodied rather than oily and soft.
Ingredients
- 900 g eggplant, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1½ dl olive oil
- 200 g celery, sliced into 1 cm pieces
- 2 onion, thinly sliced
- 100 g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp capers, salt-packed and rinsed
- 3 dl passata
- ½ dl white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 handful fresh basil, leaves picked
How to make it
- Cut the eggplant into 2 cm cubes and toss thoroughly with 2 tsp salt in a colander. Set the colander over a bowl so the liquid can drain off. ⏱ 10 minChef's tip The salt draws out moisture and collapses the spongy flesh, so the cubes soak up markedly less oil later on. Toss thoroughly so every cube gets salted — otherwise they'll brown unevenly.
- Let the eggplant cubes sit for 30 minutes, until a small pool of dark liquid has collected in the bowl beneath the colander. ⏱ 30 min · passive
- Pat the drained eggplant cubes completely dry with a clean kitchen towel, until the surface feels matte and dry. Dry cubes absorb less oil and turn golden instead of soft.
- Bring water to a boil in a pot with a pinch of salt and blanch the celery for 4 minutes, until the slices are pliable but still faintly crisp. Drain in a colander and let them drip dry. ⏱ 10 min
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the dried eggplant cubes in two batches, 6-8 minutes per batch, until golden brown outside and completely tender in the middle. Lift each batch onto paper towels.Chef's tip Give each cube room and keep to two batches: a crowded pan cools, and the eggplant steams pale grey instead of browning. Listen for a steady sizzle — if the pan falls quiet, it is overloaded.
- Pour off the oil, leaving about 2 tbsp, and reduce the heat to medium. Sauté the onion for 6-8 minutes, until soft and glossy without taking on color.
- Add the drained celery, chopped olives, and rinsed capers, and let them cook along for 3 minutes, until the capers smell sharp and glisten with oil.
- Pour in the passata and let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced to a thick, dark red mass that leaves short streaks as it releases from the pan. ⏱ 10 minChef's tip Take the tomato all the way to thick before the vinegar goes in; a watery base can only be reduced later at the cost of the agrodolce you are about to build. The cue is a streak that closes slowly behind the spoon.
- Stir the sugar into the white wine vinegar and pour the mixture over. Turn up the heat to high and reduce for 3 minutes, until the sharp vinegar smell is gone and only a bright, sweet-and-sour aroma remains.
- Gently fold in the sautéed eggplant cubes and half of the basil leaves with a rubber spatula, so the cubes stay whole and don't mash into the sauce. Season with salt — the olives and capers add their own saltiness, so taste before adding more.
- Let the caponata cool toward room temperature for 60 minutes, until it's just warm at the edges and no longer steaming. The resting time is what binds the sweet and the sour together. ⏱ 1 h · passiveChef's tip The hour is not just cooling: the sweet-sour liquid works into the eggplant, and the sharp edges settle. Covered in the fridge it is better still on day two — bring it back to room temperature before serving.
- Arrange the caponata in a shallow bowl and scatter the remaining basil leaves over top. Set the bowl in the middle of the table at room temperature and let everyone help themselves — caponata is never eaten hot.
