Despite what some recipes may have you believe, traditional Caponata is not a stew. It's more like a salad or relish, with an agrodolce(literally sour-sweet) taste, and a variety of textures and flavors that keeps your mouth waiting in eager anticipation for the next bite.
To help retain each ingredient's individuality, I like to cook each one separately for my Caponata recipe. The pine nuts get roasted in oil to bring out their rich earthy flavor. The eggplant gets fried until golden brown on the outside and creamy on the inside. The onions are slowly fried until sweet and caramelized, and then the celery, olives and capers are added towards the end, to preserve their unique textures and flavors.
Tomatoes are another component of Caponata that tastes best when caramelized to coax out their umami. The thing is, you can save yourself a bunch of time by starting with tomato paste. Since it's already reduced, all you need to do is add it in and sauté it a bit to make it sing with flavor. Caramelizing the dense paste only requires a few minutes of cooking. A bit of brown sugar and wine vinegar thrown into the pan at the end brings the individual components together, while allowing each item to retain their own unique taste and texture.
While the care involved in treating each ingredient separately may sound like a chore, my Caponata recipe is made in a single pan, so it's more about logistics than labor. To that end, I've developed this recipe to make the best use of time and oil, which is why you can put this together in under 30 minutes.
That being said, Caponata is one of those dishes that definitely tastes better the next day, which is why I recommend you let it rest overnight before serving it. It does keep for about a week though, so if you can resist the urge to eat it all in one go, it's a great make-ahead dish for parties. Some other ideas include using it as a topping for grilled fish, serving it with poached eggs and toast for breakfast, or sliding it in between two crusty halves of bread with some arugula for a satisfying plant-based lunch. Or follow it up with my Spaghetti al Pomodoro and celebrate the bounty of summer.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- 380 grams eggplant (*see note, cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 40 grams pine nuts (~¼ cup)
- 140 grams red onion (~½ onion, ½-inch dice)
- 120 grams celery (~2 stalks, ¼-inch dice)
- 70 grams pitted green olives (~½ cup, sliced in half)
- 30 grams capers in brine (~2 tablespoons, drained)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 50 grams raisins (~¼ cup packed)
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- salt
- ground black pepper
- flat-leaf parsley (chopped for garnish)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a pan and heat until hot, but not smoking.
- Add the pine nuts and fry until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the toasted pine nuts to a paper towel lined rack.
- Add the eggplant and fry, turning over several times until golden brown and tender. Transfer the eggplant to the paper towel lined rack.
- Add the onions, and saute until they are tender and starting to brown.
- Add the celery, olives, and capers and saute until the celery starts turning translucent, but still crunchy.
- Add the tomato paste and fry until shiny and fragrant.
- Finish the Caponata by adding the raisins, red wine vinegar and brown sugar. Return the eggplant and pine nuts to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and continue to cook until the liquid has all evaporated.
- Let the Caponata cool and then refrigerate overnight. Serve the Caponata at room temperature, sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley and crusty bread.
julie says
I don't know how many cups 380 grams of eggplant is....probably the reason no one is reviewing this
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Julie, eggplants can't be accurately measured in cups as the amount is going to vary widely depending on how you cut them and how you pack them into the cup. You can convert the measurement into ounces by clicking "US Standard" under Units in the recipe card.
Beckett Ender says
Wonderful recipe, followed exactly, with success. Deep flavour the next day, and even better the day after that! I appreciated the technique of cooking each main ingredient separately. Thank you
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Beckett, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed this! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Sally says
I have made Caponata many times using different recipes but this is the best! I added some chopped cherry tomatoes and a little water at the end as it was a bit dry for my taste but the basic recipe is excellent.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Sally, it's great to hear that you enjoyed this! Good idea adding cherry tomatoes!
Bas says
Beautiful, great with posh fish cakes. I always peel the aubergine and salt it in a colander, then rinse and dry before cooking. Not sure why but it tastes good.
Marc says
That sounds great, and such a good idea serving it with fishcakes!
Lucinda says
Hi beautiful antipasto. I lived in Sicily and this is a nostalgic dish.
My one comment is that it took greater than 25 minutes to cook. Its either that or I’m really slipping. I used a “Chinese” egg plant since that’s all they had. In order to brown it took longer.
I needed to double the recipe.
Thank you for this enriching experience.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Lucinda, I'm glad to hear this was able to bring back some memories for you! The cook time, doesn't include prep time, so including prep this should take about 35 minutes. If you doubled the recipe it's going to take a little longer to prep, and the cook time will go up as well since the extra food will cause the temperature of the pan to drop faster.
Laurence Lovell says
Hi Marc, we lived on Malta for several years, and one of our favourite treats was to take a freshly made caponata with fried mackerel, crusty bread, and a bottle of Pinot down to the beach. My wife sadly died a few years ago, and not knowing the recipe found your site and caponata recipe. The only thing l do different is to add some chunky red and green peppers that l fry after the aubergine. Thanks so much!
Laurence Lovell
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Laurence, I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your wife. I'm glad this was able to help you relive some memories of your time in Malta. Thank you for taking the time to share!
Katsuya Fukushima says
Hello M. Love your website. Can yiu send your original recipe for caponata. Love to try the original as well. Thankyou.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Katsuya, I've sent it over by email.
Marilyn says
This is my favorite caponata recipe...shared this with others and they love it too...never put raisins in....where is your other caponata recipe?
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Marilyn, I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying this. This recipe replaced my older one (which I made before I'd tasted a proper caponata).
Grace says
Not enough liquid in this recipe..I followedinstructionsbut had to keep adding water so that eggplant would cook to a soft texture. ...
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Grace, I'm sorry if it wasn't clear, but the eggplant needs to be cooked through all the way when you fry it. All you're doing in step 7 is glazing the ingredients in the sauce which is why there isn't very much liquid.
Goldie says
Great recipe. Very versatile. I added roasted baby potatoes to the roasted eggplant. I caramelized the onion and red pepper which i used in the recipe, along with the cherry tomatoes from my garden. I used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, maple syrup instead of sugar, and kalamata olives instead of green ones. The tomato paste was a great idea. I can’t wait to try it next time with pine nuts and raisins. It was delicious. A real bouquet of flavours.
Marc Matsumoto says
I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it! Great idea subbing balsamic vinegar as it will add the sweetness the raisins would have. Thanks for taking the time to let me know how it went!
Rebecca says
Just a big shout out for all your recipes as well as your ongoing upbeat attitude especially now. Love that you're provding options for things with longevity. Arigato!!!!!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Rebecca, thanks for taking the time to drop a note, it made my morning just a little bit better😀 I hope you're staying safe and healthy!
Christine Britcher says
Can I freeze caponata, and can it be served as a side veg with main course
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Christine, it should freeze okay, but it might be a little intensely flavored to use for a side (salty, sour and sweet). Caponata is more like a condiment for putting on bread, eating with meat, or to eat as an antipasto.
No One says
Where is your original eggplant caponata recipe from a year or two ago and why did you replace it with this one?
We bookmarked the original and made it multiple times (family favorite that I guess I should have saved off instead of bookmarking). Now the original link for it (https://norecipes.com/eggplant-caponata) redirects here to a different version. I'm sure the new one is nice, but it is NOT the original and is not what we want. Sadly, now I have to hunt for something else instead of using our 'tried and true' recipe. Not cool.
Marc Matsumoto says
Part of our mission is to make the best possible version of a dish. Many of the dishes on here have been in development for months if not years before we feel they're good enough to publish. But just because a recipe has made the cut doesn't mean it can't be improved upon. This is why I republish newer versions of recipes that have been improved over the years. In this case the original recipe was published in 2009, and the revised recipe was published at the beginning of 2017. I have the original archived and would be happy to send it to you, but it appears you've left a fake email address. If you'd like to leave a real email address I'd be happy to send you the original recipe.
Lorraine says
I agree with you Marc and have never found fault with any of your recipes. “NO ONE” should be aggravated with himself for not saving it properly.
Peggy J Raab says
I would like the original recipe