Cooking with Love
with Gianna Conte (Jan)
Caponata ready to be cooled.
What is Caponata, you ask?
Caponata is an Italian compote featuring eggplant, celery,onion, garlic, green peppers, mushrooms (opt) tomatoes, vinegar and a little sugar.
It is eaten as a side, or in sandwiches, cold or room temperature. It is so good. Here are ingredients:
2 medium size eggplant, peeled and cut up into chunks
Raw eggplant cut up in chunks
Carefully remove eggplant and set aside. Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to emptied wok. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, celery, salt and pepper. Cook all additions till soft and resemble eggplant.
*Important step:
In microwave, put cup with the vinegar and sugar mixture for 30 seconds. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add to frying pan. Stir. Add the eggplant and tomatoes.
Let whole mixture simmer for about 15 minutes. Taste for delicate soft texture.
Viola! Caponata
1/2 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 stalk celery, sliced to size of onion
1 whole green pepper, seeded and chopped into cubes
6 mushrooms, sliced
1- 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes undrained
1/2 cup fresh Parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine vinegar with 1 tsp sugar
Olive oil
Step 1
In large saucepan or wok, add 2 TBS olive oil. Add the chopped eggplant, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat, tossing until the eggplant softens and crisps on the edges. You may add a few more tablespoons of olive oil to pan. Keep tossing until it looks like this:
