Olde Towne Daphne's "Team Alloro" recipe for the SEEDS' third annual

                                        Mamma Mia! cook-off!

Caponata

Caponata is a Sicilian antipasta with roots in Greek, Roman, Arab, Spanish and Italian cultures.  It is a simple dish, but with complex flavors of roasted vegetables and a hint of sweet and sour.    It is always made with eggplant, peppers, onions, and vinegar, but the sweet flavor can come from sugar or raisins.  Other variations in this ancient dish include the addition of pine nuts, fresh mint, anchovies, octopus or even bitter chocolate!

Recipe yields 8 cups.  It is best prepared a day in advance and will keep in the refrigerator a week.  Serve at room temperature on crostini or slices of crusty French bread.  It also makes a delicious filling for an omelet or as an accompaniment to grilled fish..

Cut the vegetables in a uniform size for the best presentation.

1 ½ to 2 lbs eggplant, cut into ½ inch cubes

1 T salt 

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion, ½ inch dice

2 red bell peppers, cut into ½ inch dice

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into ½ inch dice

1 green bell pepper, cut into ½ inch dice

1 cup coarsely chopped celery

1 14 oz can good quality diced tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes equal to a scant 2 cups

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 T sugar

4 garlic cloves, finely minced or put through a garlic press

1/3 cup oil cured black olives, pits removed (a good second choice would be kalamata

         olives.

3 T capers, well drained

salt and pepper to taste

Serve with:

French bread, sliced and toasted on both sides

Optional: Sprinkle with finely chopped Italian parsley or fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the eggplant with 1 T salt and set aside in a colander to drain while cutting and assembling the remaining ingredients.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven proof pot and sauté the onion, peppers and celery over medium high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the eggplant and cook another 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, wine vinegar, sugar and garlic and cook and stir for 5 minutes.

Bake the caponata, uncovered, for 20 minutes.  Add the olives and capers and stir well.  Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until most of the liquid is evaporated.  

Cool, uncovered, then taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.