Caponata
Preparazione 40 min · Cottura 45 min · Riposo 12 h · Porzioni 6 · Difficoltà Media
Procedimento
Salt the eggplant cubes 30 minutes; rinse and dry hard.
35 min
Fry the eggplant in 170 C oil in batches until bronzed and creamy inside; drain on a rack.
18 min
In a wide pan, soften the onion in olive oil; add the blanched celery for 3 minutes, then olives and capers.
8 min
Add the passata and simmer 8 minutes. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar, pour it in, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the raw edge lifts but the tang remains.
13 min
Fold in the eggplant gently, just to coat; it should stay in proud cubes. Tear in the basil and kill the heat.
3 min
Cool completely, then rest covered overnight in the refrigerator. Serve at room temperature with bread or alongside anything from the grill.
15 min
I consigli della nonna
Consigli in cucina
Cook the vinegar just enough. Raw vinegar tastes like an accident; boiled-away vinegar deletes the dish. Three minutes after it hits the pan, taste: it should pinch, then smile.
Eggplant goes in last. Folded in early it drinks the sauce and collapses. Last-minute folding keeps each cube a separate small luxury.
Palermo crowns special-occasion caponata with toasted almonds or pine nuts and even grated chocolate at Christmas; the weekday jar needs none of it.
