Eggplant Caponata Recipe (2024)

Hello Dino. I've just made the dish exactly according to the recipe and the amount of sugar is not too much; it's just right to my taste. He needs teh sugar because there is virtually no tomato in the recipe which is where the sweetness normally comes from. I agree that Sicilians don't put pepper flakes in eggplant parmigiana, but they do in caponata. I've eaten the dish all over Sicily (Catania to Palermo to Marsala Ragusa and they've all been spiced with red pepper.

This is SO good! I usually halve sugar recommendations, but this caponata in fact needed the prescribed amount.As an experiment, I sauteed half the eggplant and baked the other half. I could taste the difference when the capanata was first made (sauteed was better), but the next day the difference had evaporated. Since baking is easier, I'll do that next time.

Good recipe, but, off the mark. Sicilians are not fans of red pepper flakes in ANY eggplant parmigiana I've eaten anywhere in Sicily. Way too much sugar in this recipe as well. Bay leaf throws off the savory flavor of the olives. LESS is better.

Good, solid recipe. Follow as directed. I liked this version of the Caponata. I had always followed Caponata recipes with slightly more tomato.The vinegar and sugar are well balanced and remind me of some of the better Caponatas that I have eaten over the decades. Don't mess around with the recipe until you have tried it out Tanis' way. then feel free to get creative if there is something you don't like.

Hello Aynsley. I just made the dish according to David's recipe and did indeed blanch the celery. My feeling is that it takes the edge off the celery taste and softens the texture a bit to better blend in with the other ingredients. When I make it again, I'll do the blanching again as I will in my normal recipe which has a quite a bit of tomato in the base.

but this isn't a recipe for eggplant parmigiana, so...

Made as written. Nice agrodolce and while my fully Sicilian hubby argues this may not have been considered caponata in his nonna's kitchen for limited tomato, it is a good eggplant dish. Olives are important - don't use pimento stuffed variety - we used. Castelvetrano. My "oops' in misreading recipe was to blanch celery stalks then chop them. Worked well in spite of my myopia. Brilliant idea to blanch celery - I'll use technique in other recipes.

Baking the eggplant cubes uses much less oil and turns out almost the same.

Caponata is not a clear defined. Every household or restaurant in Sicily has its own version, they use whats in season, there are summer caponatas,christmas caponatas, some add sultanas others pine nuts, just follow the technique and than make up your preferred version.

Made as instructed except used the inexpensive green olives b/c that's what I had & chopped them instead of leaving them whole ( the better to fit on toast rounds). So. Delicious!

This was very tasty and was a nice accompaniment to my meal tonight! Anything with olives, capers and eggplant is bound to be good! I had ran out of onions so I used shallots. I will make again!

Add more spice or pepper Served over brown rice

When I was cooking this, I didn't think it would turn out well as it smelled very vinegary and acidic, but after sitting in the refrigerator for an hour, it mellowed nicely and was well balanced with the vinegar and sugar. I've had many caponata's over the years and this one I would put in the top 5.

Made this today with two large eggplants cubed and roasted in the oven. Did not use olives or celery. Just onion, 3 tbsp capers, tomato paste. Used the 1/2 cup wine, quarter cup red vinegar and only 1 Tbsp of sugar. Absolutely delicious and perfect balance. Love love love

Oops, used 1 T sugar by mistake and it was perfect!

We liked this recipe a lot and felt the acid, sweet and salty were beautifully balanced. I used oil cured chopped olives as that is what I had. Roasted the eggplant in the oven and then smashed into the rest of the recipe. We used as a topping for crostini. Wonderful.

I used dry black olives and loved the result. Best eggplant dish I ever made.

I made this with Castelvetrano olives, and, because I was using what was on hand, green pepper in place of the celery. I didn’t blanch it, just added to the onions when the onions were mostly cooked. It was fabulously delicious! My husband generally doesn’t like olives, so I went easy on them as I dished up his portion. He actually got up to add more to his plate! The flavors and textures make a wonderful combination!

Don says add mor spice

Made this tonight. I went to the market this morning and found wonderful eggplant and red onions of Tropea. I had purchased a can of tomato paste but have never used it here in Italy. The stuff is amazing. Brilliant red color and really a consistency of a thick puree. It's the start of Melanzane season here in Calabria and this will be a staple for usThanks David

Terrific !! I roasted the eggplants, sauteed the (raw) celery with the onions and used chopped tomatoes instead of paste (hey, it’s summertime). Oh, and be careful with the sugar; I used much less.

I used lightly grilled but thoroughly cooked home grown finger eggplants, assorted small tomatoes, zucchini (horrors, I know) and red onion, capers, Thompson raisins, honey in place of sugar, capers, Kalamatas, red wine vinegar, 1 T elephant garlic and Muffalata…in place of green olives. A humdinger of a meal during which my husband said, “It is so good I cannot stop to have a sip of wine!” It accompanied a simple grilled beef burger with no fixings.

Added garlic and some lentils, Parmesan and pine nuts and served cover pasta. Delicious!

Add or subtract whatever you want, caponata is peasant pantry food. Toasted pine nuts are a common addition. I like preserved lemon which lends a North African flavor. Also, no one in my family in Calabria has ever peeled an eggplant...