Caponata

There are certain recipes that, when I cook them, make me feel like wherever I'm cooking is home.  Caponata, an Italian eggplant dish that my grandmother used to cook all the time, falls into that category.  Though my grandmother was from Northern Italy (Trieste, to be exact), she loved to cook this Sicilian vegetable stew.  I guess she was ahead of the curve on pan-Italian cooking.  Served hot with pan-fried polenta or cold with a crusty piece of bread, caponata is one of my feel-good standbys, so today I'm going to share my grandmother's recipe with you all.  Now, being of the old school, my grandmother wasn't big on writing down recipes or measuring things, so it evolves a little bit every time I make it.  You should feel free to make it your own too.

You'll need:

1 large eggplant or 2 medium-sized eggplants, diced
2 zucchini, skinned and chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes OR 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 lb. fresh tomatoes, chopped
3–4 tbsp. olive oil
1 can medium or large black olives
3/4–1 cup red wine
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven (my favored pot) over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and onion and sauté until the onions start to turn tender.

Add eggplant to the pot, mixing well.  You want the eggplant to turn slightly brown in the olive oil, which requires each piece of eggplant to touch the bottom of the pot at least for a little while.  This should take about 3–5 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot.  You should drain the liquid from the olives before adding, but be sure to add the liquid from the diced tomatoes.  Basically, you want a good amount of liquid in the pot to cook the vegetables in.

This is what it should look like:

Turn the heat down to medium and let simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until the zucchini just starts to turn tender.  Approximately half of the original liquid should have boiled away.  Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste.  This should make between 6 and 8 servings and keeps well in the refrigerator.

Served hot, caponata is great with polenta lightly fried in olive oil and topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.  That's how I served it tonight:

But, in my opinion and true Sicilian style, caponata, like revenge, is best served cold.

Buon appetito!