Caponata Siciliana - Sicilian Sweet And Sour Vegetables

This dish represents the traditional cuisine of Sicily. It’s an agrodolce (sweet and sour) vegetable dish that’s rich, comforting and packed full of flavour. It’s incredibly versatile - you can serve it over toasted homemade bread, pair it with creamy burrata, alongside roast chicken or baked fish, or even spooned over couscous. There are so many variations of this iconic dish and this is my version.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine 
• 1 white or brown onion
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 red pepper
• 2 medium vine tomatoes 
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 15 pitted green olives 
• 50g pine nuts 
• 3 tbsp of red wine vinegar
• 1 ½ tbsp of caster sugar 
• 10g of fresh basil  
• Extra virgin olive oil 
• Fine sea salt 
• Sourdough bread, to serve

Method

1. In a dry frying pan over a medium heat, toast the pine nuts for 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently until lightly golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
2. Cut the aubergine into roughly 2 cm cubes. Roughly dice the onion. Thinly slice the celery stick and dice the red pepper. Roughly chop the tomatoes and slice the olives in half. 
3. Heat a generous splash of extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the aubergine cubes, the onion and the diced pepper with a pinch of fine sea salt and cook for about 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and soft. Add a little more oil if needed. 
4. Add the chopped celery and olives, then the chopped tomatoes too and cook for another 5 minutes, allowing them to break down and form a light sauce. 
5. In a small bowl, mix together the tomato paste, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Stir this mixture into the pan towards the end of the cooking and simmer for 2–3 minutes until the sauce lightly coats the vegetables. 
6. Remove the pan from the heat, roughly tear the basil leaves and stir them in along with the toasted pine nuts. Taste and adjust the seasoning with fine sea salt if needed.
7. Spoon the caponata onto a serving dish and drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature with toasted slices of sourdough bread.

If you want to make this and other traditional Sicilian dishes along with me in real-time, why not join my A Taste Of Sicily online cooking class!

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