Pasta Alla Caponata - Pasta Caponata

Sicilian-inspired Pasta alla Caponata is one of my favourite vegan pasta dishes. A beautiful dish of lightly fried vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce that’s perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. 

​Caponata is loved all around the world and in Sicily there are many different versions. But I made mine in a way that it complements the pasta perfectly. It’s also delicious on top of homemade toasted bread as a bed for a burrata, with roast chicken or an oven baked fish, or even with with couscous! When the vegetables are fully in season, the sauce is often made in big batches and preserved in a glass jar so you can enjoy them again later in the year. Or it keeps well up to 4 days in the fridge.

Serves: 2
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Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• ½ a leek
• ½ a large aubergine
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 20g pine nuts
• 300ml passata
• 1 tbsp capers
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar
• Fine sea salt
• A few basil leaves, torn
• 300g short pasta - I have used pennoni

Method

1. Heat a good glug of olive oil on a medium-high heat and add the two crushed garlic cloves to infuse the oil.
2. As soon as you start smelling the aroma of the garlic, then go in with the thinly sliced leeks. Sweat the leeks for about 5 minutes so they get nice and sweet.
3. Stir in diced peppers, aubergine and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables start soften. 
   
4. Stir in the bay leaf, pine nuts and the capers. Cook for 5 minutes constantly stirring. 
5. Add the passata to the pan, followed by a few fresh basil leaves, the red wine vinegar, a good pinch of sea salt and the sugar to create that sweet and sour sauce taste. 
6. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the sauce until there is no more liquid and the vegetables are cooked all the way through. 
   
7. Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted boiling water ready to cook the pasta and cook the pasta until al dente. 
8. Once fully cooked, transfer the cooked pasta straight into the sauce along with a small ladle of the pasta water and a drizzle of olive oil. Give it last good stir to bring the pasta and sauce together then serve up and enjoy! 

Watch the recipe video

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