RECIPES
Sicily's Great Eggplant-Tomato Stew
by: Skip Lombardi
I ran into a friend yesterday, who tells me that he
should be harvesting eggplants from his garden any day
now. Of course, this got me thinking about Caponata,
the famous Sicilian eggplant and tomato stew.
This is a terrific 'contorno', vegetable
course, and also a great topping for 'bruschetta',
Tuscany’s
grilled bread. Of course it's one of the quintessential
Italian antipasti too. And when you can walk into your
own garden and harvest the vegetables to put it together,
Caponata becomes all the more magical.
Italians have a particular fondness for 'le primizie',
the smallest of the first crop of vegetables. So if you
have access to a garden-either your own or a friend's-or
if you can get to a farm stand, now is the time for you
to be thinking about caponata too.
The recipe below is excerpted from my
first cookbook, "La
Cucina dei Poveri."
My Grandmother's Caponata
When
the garden was in full swing during the summer, Noonie
(my grandmother) would harvest-well,
more accurately,
she would direct Pop (my grandfather) to harvest some
eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers for this delicious antipasto
that she referred to as 'Caponatina. My recollections
fail as to how she served it, but I’m betting that
it was over a piece of Italian bread that Pop had fried
in olive oil.
Nowadays, I serve it over bruschetta
made from some good Tuscan bread which-I’m happy
to report-seems to be turning up more and more frequently
at supermarket
bakeries.
Ingredients:
4
Tbs. Olive oil
2 Cloves garlic, peeled, and thinly sliced
1 Medium onion, peeled, and chopped
1 Medium eggplant (approximately 1 1/4 Lb.) cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Medium bell peppers
1/4 Lb. Green olives, pits removed
1 Tbs. Capers
1 Cup Italian plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/4 Cup sugar
1/4Cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Cup raisins
2 Tbs. Fresh mint, chopped
1/4 tsp. Red pepper flakes
Preparation:
Heat
the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high
heat, then add the garlic. Sauté until the garlic
just begins to give off its aroma-perhaps a minute or
two. Add the onion and sauté for about five minutes,
until it becomes translucent.
Add the eggplant and sauté for about five minutes
or until it begins to soften, but still has plenty of
texture. Add the peppers, olives, and capers and sauté until
the peppers become tender. Add the tomatoes and continue
cooking to incorporate the tomatoes with the other ingredients
and to begin to form a sauce.
Add the sugar, spreading it evenly over the pan, then
the vinegar, raisins, mint, and red pepper flakes. Stir
well to blend all the ingredients, then remove from the
heat.
Italians typically serve Caponata at room temperature.
Serves four to six.
Tell your friends you saw this recipe on Taste of Whatcom.com
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About The Author
Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: "La
Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents," and "Almost
Italian: Recipes from America's Little Italys." He
has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher,
software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has
never let any of those pursuits get in the way of his
passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to
learn more about his cookbooks. http://www.skiplombardi.com or contact Mr. Lombardi at
info@skiplombardi.com
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TOP
(6-24-2006)
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