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Caponata
Sicily's sweet-and-sour vegetable dish: salted, fried aubergine with celery, peppers and onion, capers, and a quick dressing of honey and red wine vinegar, finished with basil. Rosa Mitchell's version for SBS's Food Safari cooks each vegetable separately. Served warm, cool or the next day.
- Servings
- 6
- Preparation
- 25 min
- Cooking
- 45 min
- Resting
- 1 h
- Total
- 2 h 10
- Difficulty
- Easy
Equipment
- Colander and clean tea towel
- Large frying pan; kitchen paper
Ingredients
Method
Put the aubergine in a colander over a bowl, salt lightly and leave for 1 hour. Pat dry in a clean tea towel.
Why Salt draws out moisture (and, the source says, bitterness), so the aubergine fries rather than steams.
Timer · 1 h60:00Heat 60 ml oil over a medium heat and fry the aubergine in batches for 10–15 minutes until tender and golden, adding oil if needed. Drain on paper.
Timer · 15 min15:00Add another 60 ml oil and cook the celery and onion over a low-medium heat until the celery is tender. Drain.
Timer · 10 min10:00Add another 60 ml oil, cook the garlic for 1 minute until fragrant, then add the peppers, season and cook until tender and lightly coloured but not too soft. Drain.
Timer · 10 min10:00Mix all the vegetables with the capers in a bowl. Put the honey and vinegar in the warm pan for 30 seconds over a medium heat, pour over the vegetables, tear in the basil and mix.
Why Heating the honey and vinegar briefly dissolves the honey and softens the vinegar's sharpness; this is the agrodolce (sweet-sour) of the dish.
Substitutions
- Honey → Sugar, the same amount.
- Long red peppers → Ordinary red peppers.
Common mistakes
- Not drying the salted aubergine: it spits in the oil and absorbs more of it.
Storage & reheating
Better the next day. Keeps 4–5 days covered in the fridge; serve at room temperature.
Safety
Contains celery; wine vinegar usually contains sulphites. Use sugar instead of honey for a vegan version.
Allergens
Celery · Sulphites
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
Dietary
vegetarian · gluten-free
Everyone's own caponata
SBS calls caponata a Sicilian favourite that everyone cooks their own way. Rosa Mitchell's version uses aubergine, celery, peppers, onion, capers, honey and red wine vinegar; other Sicilian versions add tomato, olives or pine nuts. The recipe page says it can be eaten hot, cold or warm and is better the next day.
Sweet and sour
Each vegetable is fried on its own because they cook at different speeds. The dressing, honey and vinegar warmed for half a minute in the pan, is what makes caponata: the vegetables absorb it as they cool.
How it connects
Place
- origin Sicily In preparation
Recipe
- similar Ratatouille
