Sicilian caponata: sweet-and-sour aubergine, better the next day
The Sicilian aubergine salad in which every vegetable is cooked separately and the agrodolce pulls it together at the end: a spoon of sugar and three of vinegar poured into the hot pan. Aubergine salted for half an hour stays firm and drinks noticeably less oil. It is served at room temperature, never straight from the fridge, and it really only tastes right the next day.
Your own work in that: 45 min.
- Aubergine salting 30 min
- Frying 20 min
- Stewing 25 min
- Resting 60 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSalt the aubergine
Cut the aubergines into 2.5 cm cubes with the skin on, put them in a colander, scatter with the coarse salt and toss. Cover with a plate, weigh it down and leave 30 minutes. Then rinse under cold water and dry very thoroughly with a cloth.
Ingredients: 700 g aubergines · 1 tbsp coarse salt · 100 ml olive oil
TipSalt draws water out by osmosis, and dehydrated flesh is dense and absorbs noticeably less oil. Unsalted aubergine is a sponge: it will drink everything in the pan and turn out heavy.
2.5 cm cubes, salt, weighted, half an hourFry the aubergine in batches
Heat 70 ml of the oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat and fry the aubergine in three batches, 5–6 minutes each (about 18 minutes in all), turning only once, until deep golden and soft inside. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto paper towel.
TipIn batches, because crowded cubes drop the pan temperature: the aubergine starts to steam in its own moisture, soaks up oil and comes out grey instead of golden.
Three batches, golden outside, soft insideBlanch the celery
Slice the celery stalks 1 cm thick, drop into boiling salted water for 3 minutes and refresh under cold water. Blanching takes off celery's raw, faintly bitter edge, and the slices stay crisp to the end of the stewing.
Ingredients: 3 pcs celery stalks · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 400 g tomatoes · 80 g pitted black olives · 30 g pine nuts
Three minutes in boiling water, then coldBuild the base
In the remaining oil soften the thinly sliced onion 8 minutes, add the garlic and drained celery, fry 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and olives and stew uncovered 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and is no longer watery. Meanwhile toast the pine nuts in a dry pan.
Onion, celery, tomatoes, olives: a thick sauceAdd the agrodolce
Return the aubergine to the pan and fold in gently. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and pour it over; stew 5 minutes uncovered, until the sharp smell of vinegar is gone and the sauce turns glossy. Season with salt and pepper.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp red wine vinegar · 1 tbsp sugar · ½ bunch fresh basil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
TipVinegar added at the start would cook for a long time and lose most of its sour aroma, leaving the sugar in front. Added at the end and reduced for five minutes it loses its harshness but keeps the acid that balances the sweetness: that is agrodolce.
Sugar in vinegar, five minutes uncoveredCool and wait
Take off the heat, stir in half the basil and leave at least an hour. Serve at room temperature, scattered with the pine nuts and the rest of the basil, with bread. It keeps 4 days in the fridge and improves every day; take it out half an hour before serving.
TipCold mutes acid and sweetness at once, so caponata straight from the fridge tastes flat. Room temperature is not a whim but the condition for tasting the agrodolce at all.
Room temperature, pine nuts, basil
Before you start
With capers
Classic caponata has 2 spoons of capers (salted, rinsed) added with the olives. They give a salty, floral note the olives alone don't; if you have them, don't leave them out.
Roasted instead of fried
Toss the aubergine cubes with 4 spoons of oil and roast 25 minutes at 220 °C, turning once. Less rich, with a distinct roasted note; the rest is unchanged.
As a starter and a sauce
Caponata isn't only a salad: on toast with ricotta it is a starter, and tossed with pasta and a spoon of cooking water it becomes dinner.
