Caponata
Ingredients
Serves 4 as an accompaniment
1 small Celery stick and a few of its leaves – washed and chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
1 Eggplant, cut into cubes (approx. 2cm x 2cm)
2 ripe Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
4 large Green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp salted Capers, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup tightly packed Basil leaves, roughly shredded
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp raw Sugar
5g good quality Dark Chocolate
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Method
Sauté the onion and celery in a frying pan with a splash of olive oil until the onion colours a little and the celery retains a crunchy firmness. Add the sugar and mix well to combine, deglaze with the vinegar and continue to cook until a little syrupy. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add a good splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the pan, and fry off the eggplant (you may need to do this in batches if your pan isn’t big enough) adding a little more olive oil if needed and a little salt. When the eggplant is almost cooked all the way through and has a rich golden colour, add the diced tomatoes, reduce the heat and continue to cook until the tomato has softened a little. Add the onion and celery mixture along with all it’s liquid back to the pan with the eggplant, mix well and then add the olives, capers sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Whilst the mixture is still warm, add the chocolate so that it melts and stir in gently and then add the basil and adjust the seasoning if necessary. The caponata should be sweet, sour and luscious!