Caponata di Catania
- 1lb of eggplant – remove 1” wide strips from stem to bottom
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 red pepper cut in cubes
- 1 onion – ¼ finely chopped, chop the rest in cubes
- 1 stalk of celery chopped including leaves
- 1 T capers
- 6 pitted olives and cut in pieces
- 2 T red wine vinegar
- 1 t sugar
- 6 med canned peeled tomatoes chopped
- ¼ t salt
- Handful of chopped basil
- Fry eggplant in extra virgin olive oil on high heat until dark gold. Set aside
- Sauté the peppers, cubed onions, celery over moderate heat for a couple of minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and cook for 8 minutes until vegetable start to brown. Add capers, olives, vinegar and sugar. Turn off heat, add eggplant and mix very gently.
- Heat 2 T of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the finely chopped onion.
- Add the tomatoes, cook over high heat stir in salt and add to vegetable mixture along with fresh basil.
- Serve Caponata room temperature over toasted crostini.
