loveSicily

Delicious Sicilian Caponata with Peppers

I got an email from Rachel asking "what dish is the one in the photo on the top right side of your blog"? The answer is Caponata, Sicily's signature dish.

When travelling around the island You are sure to come across Caponata as it is served as an antipasto in most restaurants - and it is sure that you will not taste two caponatas that are the same. Each cook has their own "secret" recipe and special blend.

The recipe - as with most great dishes - is quite simple.
In Palermo it is usually prepared exclusively with aubergine while in Catania and the South-East the recipe includes peppers.

Here you have my version of a Catania style caponata:

Dice an aubergine in cubes, some onions, peppers and celery. Sauté the onions in a pan with some olive oil and set aside, then do the same with the peppers and then the celery. Each takes about 3-4 minutes with celery needing slightly longer.

Subsequently add some more olive oil and fry the aubergine for 4-5 minutes or until golden. Take the aubergine out and let the cubes rest on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Finally, throw everything back in the pan with just a drizzle of olive oil, crushed garlic, sugar/honey and vinegar and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Then allow it to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Along the way taste and adjust sugar/honey, vinegar and salt to taste. I am generous with vinegar and sugar as I really like sweet and sour food. For an extra punch of taste I also add some capers.

I prefer to use honey instead of sugar in the caponata as honey used to be the traditional ingredient to make sweet and sour recipes in Sicily, because is healthier than sugar and also because there are excellent honey producers in the area around Modica, i Monti Iblei.
If you do try it with honey I would suggest orange blossom or thyme honey.

Written on
July 16, 2009