Caponata Eggplant Appetizer Recipes

Steps:

• Cook 1 chopped onion in a skillet with 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 minutes. Add 1 each chopped celery stalk and eggplant; cook 4 minutes. Add 1 chopped red bell pepper and cook 3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons golden raisins, some chopped oregano and 1/2 cup water; simmer 8 minutes. Add 1 cup halved grape tomatoes and 1 tablespoon each cider vinegar and capers; cook 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and top with torn basil.
• SERVES 6
• Calories: 138
• Total Fat: 9 grams
• Saturated Fat: 1 grams
• Protein: 2 grams
• Total carbohydrates: 14 grams
• Sugar: 7 grams
• Fiber: 4.5 grams
• Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
• Sodium: 199 milligrams

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.

Steps:

• Trim the eggplants, cut them into 1-inch cubes, and transfer them to a colander. Sprinkle with salt and let them stand for 30 minutes. Rinse, drain well, and pat dry. In a bowl, combine the black olives, green olives, and capers. Cover with warm water and let them plump for 20 minutes. Drain well. In a saucepan of boiling water, blanch the celery for 1 to 2 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and pat dry. In a large skillet set over moderately high heat, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil until hot. Add the eggplant in small batches and cook it, stirring occasionally and adding 3 to 4 tablespoons of water to prevent sticking, until just tender and golden brown. Transfer the fried eggplant to a bowl and, adding oil and water as needed, fry the remaining eggplant. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat until hot over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, just until tender. Add the tomato sauce, 2 cups of water, the reserved eggplant, olives, capers, celery, and salt and pepper. Simmer the mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and vinegar, stirring until dissolved. Add the sugar mixture to the eggplant mixture and stir to combine. Transfer the caponatina to a bowl, let it cool to room temperature, and chill it, covered, for 1 to 2 days to allow the flavors to blend.

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.

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.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, toss the eggplant generously with olive oil and salt, to taste. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast until the eggplant is soft and mushy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Reserve.
• Coat a wide deep pot with olive oil. Toss in the onion and crushed red pepper and season with salt, to taste. Cook over medium-high heat until the onions are soft and aromatic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the fennel, celery and garlic and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the peppers and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes. Add the zucchini, season with salt, to taste, and cook until the zucchini and all the veggies are soft and aromatic and starting to come together as a stew, about 5 to 6 minutes. Toss in the eggplant, 1/2 cup of water and the tomato paste. Cook until the water has evaporated. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a small bowl and add it to the mixture. Stir in the raisins, capers, pine nuts and mint. Cook for another 5 to 6 minutes.
• Let cool and transfer the caponata to a serving bowl. Serve immediately or even better tomorrow or the next day.

Steps:

• In a large hot pan heat oil and stir fry eggplant till golden brown about 10 minutes add celery, onions, garlic, and tomatoes cook till tender about 5 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Stirring occasionally!
• Jar or place in a sealed container and refrigerate over night.
• Serve cooled.
• Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Steps:

• In sauce pan saute' onions and garlic in 3-4 tablespoons oil.
• Add paste, sugar, salt, and vinegar and simmer 8-10 minutes. Add water, cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water if needed.
• Fry eggplant cubes until browned. Add to sauce. Add celery, carrot, olives, and capers to frying pan with some additional oil if necessary. Fry about 5 minutes. Add to eggplant-sauce mixture.
• Cover pot and simmer slowly about 1/2 hour. Add some pepper if desired.
• Remove from heat and cool. Garnish with raisins or sliced hard cooked egg slices. Serve at room temperature with crusty Italian bread slices or crackers.

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.

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.