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Caponata Recipe Lidia Bastianich

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: appetizer
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 medium red bell pepper cored and seeded
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 medium eggplant with removed stem cubed
  • 1 small zucchini cubed
  • 1 medium white onion diced
  • 1/2 cup celery diced
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup pitted green olives
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts toasted
  • 1 tablespoon tiny capers drained and rinsed
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste
  • 2 fresh tomatoes peeled and diced
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons organic sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves chopped

Instructions

  • In a saucepan, boil salted water and then add the red bell pepper in it and boil for a minute or two.
  • Grab a large skillet and add half quantity of olive oil to it. Reserve the other half.
  • Heat the oil and check if it starts to sizzle. Throw the cubes of eggplant in it and fry until gets a pretty brown color. Take them out of the oil and drain.
  • In the leftover oil, add the onion and fry for one minute. Also, add celery at the same time and fry them both at the same time.
  • Stir the green olives, capers, blanched peppers, cranberries, and pine nuts in it.
  • Mix all the vegetables and fry for 10 minutes. Vegetables should be a little tender and not completely merged.
  • In the last five minutes, add tomatoes to the mixture. In the meantime, you can cook the mint syrup to utilize your time.
  • In a small saucepan, boil the vinegar and pour some sugar along with the mint. At low heat, simmer until you get a thick syrup.
  • In the skillet which contains the cooking vegetables pour this mint syrup and cook for a few more minutes.
  • Your veggies should be juicy but should not be mushy and broken.
  • At the last minute before turning off the heat, add zucchini along with the eggplant. Cook and air cool it. Refrigerated and serve.