Cream of the Crop Recipe Week 16: Caponata

Caponata 

Caponata 

By:  Kurt Flehinger

Caponata is a flavorful sweet/salty/sour Italian equivalent to ratatouille.  And, it enables you to use so many of the vegetables in this week’s CSA box.   You can use this as a topping for fish or chicken, as a pasta sauce or as an appetizer on good crusty bread.  

The Ingredients

1 lb. eggplant (any variety), cut into roughly 1/2 - 1 inch pieces

1 large bell pepper (any color), cut into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces

1 small onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 lb. tomatoes, roughly chopped

6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salt

1/2 chopped olives (Castelvetrano or Kalamata)

1 tbsp. capers

2 tbsp. chopped parsley

2 tsp. sugar

fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Add eggplant, bell pepper, onion and tomatoes into a large bowl.  Add 2 tbsp. olive oil and a large pinch of salt and stir vegetables coat evenly.
3. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and spread the vegetables evenly over the pan.
4. Roast for 40 minutes (until vegetables are caramelized at the edges).
5. Transfer the roasted vegetables back into the bowl.
6. Add 2 tbsp. olive oil, the olives, capers, parsley, sugar, another large pinch of salt and a healthy grinding of fresh black pepper, and toss to combine thoroughly.
7. With either a fork or a potato masher, mash the vegetables until the eggplant is creamy but the other vegetables are still chunky.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning
9. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.
10. Drizzle with a little fresh olive oil before serving.

This is a great dish for a party since you can make it the day before.  The flavors only get better the longer it sits.  Also, feel free to substitute zucchini or celery among the roasted vegetables.