Best Caponata Cold Eggplant Aubergine Appetizer Recipes

ROASTED EGGPLANT CAPONATA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
• Place the whole eggplant on the pan, prick with a fork in several places, and rub with olive oil. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, until the eggplant is very soft when pierced with a knife. Set aside to cool. Halve the eggplant, peel, and discard the skin. Place the eggplant, peppers, and olives in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until coarsely chopped. Pour into a mixing bowl.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute, and add to the eggplant mixture. Add the parsley, pine nuts, lemon juice, capers, tomato paste, vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop. Taste for seasonings and serve at room temperature with toasted pita triangles.

CAPONATA (COLD EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) APPETIZER)

Steps:

• Place eggplant cubes in a colander and sprinkle with salt, cover with a plate and drain for 30 minutes.
• Saute peppers, onion and celery in 2 T of oil in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions are soft, 8 to 12 minutes, Remove from skillet and set aside, add remaining oil to skillet.
• Squeeze excess liquid from eggplant, saute in skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until light brown, 14 to 18 minutes, return peppers, onions and celery mixture to skillet and stir in all ingredients.
• Cook for about 25 minutes, Remove from stove and let stand for about 15 minutes and then refrigerate.

EGGPLANT CAPONATA (SICILIAN VERSION)

Steps:

• Toss eggplant with salt and place in a colander set over a bowl. Let sit, about 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add celery; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet. Add eggplant and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in celery mixture, tomatoes, olives, capers, tomato paste, and oregano. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until caponata is thickened, about 15 minutes.
• Season caponata with vinegar, sugar, salt, and black pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with parsley.

EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) CAPONATA

Steps:

• Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large saute pan (as the eggplant will soak it up).
• Brown the eggplant in the oil in small batches.
• Set aside in a stainless steel bowl.
• Note: the eggplant is usually cooked with the skin on it adds color to the dish, however if you find the skin to be particularly tough or stringy you can peel the eggplant and cook it skinned.
• Heat more oil.
• Sauté peppers until soft.
• Add sautéed peppers to bowl with the eggplant.
• Cook onions and garlic until onions are tender.
• Add brown sugar and vinegar and cook 2 minutes more.
• Add tomato puree and green olives and cook until you have a thick, brown sweet-and-sour sauce.
• Pour sauce over eggplant and peppers and toss to coat.
• Add capers, anchovies and herbs, and mix well.
• Adjust seasonings to taste.
• Serve warm or at room temperature with slices of crusty Italian bread.
• Also excellent served hot on top of pasta or chilled and served as a salad.

EGGPLANT CAPONATA

Steps:

• Peel and dice the eggplants, peel and slice the onion, peel and slice the garlic, slice the celery.
• In a large bowl, toss the eggplant with the salt. Transfer the eggplant to a colander to drain for 2 hours. In order to facilitate the draining, top the eggplant with a heavy weight, such as a dinner plate topped with full cans.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and celery and sauté for 5 minutes more, or until the garlic softens but does not brown. Add the anchovies and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the tomato paste and stir to thoroughly combine. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the paste turns a deep red, almost brown, and starts to stick to the pan. Add the vinegar and sugar and stir until the mixture thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the heat.
• In another large sauté pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat until smoking. Add the eggplant and carefully toss it in the oil, letting it sear before stirring. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the eggplant is translucent and soft.
• Transfer the eggplant to the caponata mixture and cook over low heat for 3 minutes, until the flavors combine. Add the capers and their brine and stir to incorporate.
• Serve warm or at room temperature accompanied by toast points or crostini.

CAPONATA

Steps:

• Roast the eggplant, allow to cool and chop coarsely.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet and add the onion and celery. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic. Cook together for a minute, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant, and add the peppers and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, until just about tender, about 8 minutes. Add another tablespoon of oil and the eggplant, and stir together for another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. The eggplant will fall apart, which is fine. Season to taste.
• Add the tomatoes to the pan with about 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of sugar. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan often, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down somewhat and they smell fragrant. Add the capers, olives, remaining sugar, and vinegar. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, for 20 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly tender and the mixture is quite thick, sweet, and fragrant. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Allow to cool to room temperature. If possible, cover and chill overnight. Serve at room temperature.

CAPONATA (EGGPLANT APPETIZER)

Steps:

• In a 4 quart sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat.
• Add onion and celery cook covered 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Add next 8 ingredients, heat to boil
• Cover, simmer on low 20 minutes.
• In a large non stick skillet heat 4 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add eggplant cook 10 minutes or until tender stirring often.
• Stir tomato mixture into eggplant.
• Serve on slices of toasted french bread.

EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) CAPONATA

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a large enameled or stainless steel pot.
• Bring to a healthy simmer, stirring occasionally.
• You can cook this over low heat uncovered for about an hour, or cover it and cook it over very low heat for several hours.
• The slow stewing method blends the flavors very nicely, and the caponata is great reheated.
• Serve with garlic bread or croistini.
• If you decide to freeze this, it will stay for 2 months.