Key Lime & Coconut

My adventures in the world of food & wine

Friday, March 21, 2008

Easy Eggplant Caponata

I don't know about y'all, but I am really ready for spring and some warm weather. Luckily for myself, I'm headed home to Florida this afternoon for a weekend of fun in the sun. This post is going to be short since I still have tons of packing to do...

This recipe for Eggplant Caponata comes from the newest issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. So far I've really enjoyed most of the recipes that I try from it, and they're usually fresh, fast, and easy. I was really intrigued by the ingredient list in this one, and I think it would have been a 5-star winner if not for the overly vinegary taste. (Maybe that's how caponata's supposed to taste? But I found it to be way too much.) My word of advice to you: cut down the vinegar to a half cup at the most.

As you can see, I had my caponata over rigatoni with a little fresh-grated parmesan. Some of Martha's other serving suggestions: use as a topping for crostini; layer on toasted country bread, top with mozzarella, and broil until melted; or spoon over broiled flounder or other white fish.


Eggplant Caponata
makes 5 cups
  • 1/4 c. olive oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 1/4 c. golden raisins
  • 1/4 c. pine nuts
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 c. tomato paste
  • 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 to 4 Tbsp. sugar
  • 2 large eggplants (2-1/4 lbs. total), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 2/3 c. white wine vinegar (I recommend 1/2 c. or less--BH)
  • coarse salt
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium high. Add onions, raisins, pine nuts, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add tomato paste, cocoa powder, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cook, stirring, until tomato paste is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggplant, vinegar, and 2/3 cup water. Cover, and cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender and mixture is thick, 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and more sugar, as desired. Serve caponata warm or at room temperature.

To freeze: Cool completely, then transfer to resealable freezer bags, filling only halfway. Freeze bags flat, and store in the freezer, up to 2 months.

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

Blogger Rosie said...

Wishing you a great time in Florida :) Your eggplant caponata looks very delicious too mmmm..

Rosie x

12:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Becky,

I'm Alisha from Wowzio, and I'm excited to tell you about our new widget platform that helps bloggers increase readership and create more engaged users. I wanted to reach out to you to ask for your feedback on these widgets (feel free to also install them on your blog, if you feel they are a good fit). You can check out widgets customized for your blog here:

Wowzio Widgets for your blog

I'm sorry for leaving this message via a comment, it's not at all our intent to spam you ( which is why i'm leaving this comment on an older post and you can always remove this comment ). Again, we would love to hear your feedback.

Thanks,
Alisha Wright
alisha.wright1@gmail.com

2:51 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

i'm visiting your blog first time...your eggplant caponata sounds delicious...wanna try it..right away i'm gonna get the ingredients from www.myethnicworld.com and try it.

10:33 AM  
Anonymous Rob Johnson said...

Looks delicious! What a great taste and food texture this must have, thanks!

11:28 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home