A few years ago we had a lovely holiday in Sicily – I remember seeing miles and miles of eggplant farms and eating many versions of this dish.  I have tried many caponata recipes and this is my favourite .  This eggplant dish is lovely served warm or cool, it keeps well in the fridge so you have your vegies sorted for a couple of meals.  Caponata makes a beautiful side to some grilled lamb, tuna or swordfish.

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant

• 1 tab olive oil

• 1 stalk celery, trimmed, sliced thinly

• 1 medium (150g) onion, sliced thinly

• 400g tin peeled and diced tomatoes

• 2 red capsicums, diced

• 1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed

• 1 tablespoon pine nuts, optional

• a handful of black or green olives

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 clove crushed garlic

• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Cut the eggplant into small cubes. Heat oil in a large pan, add onion, capsicum and celery, Cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Add eggplant and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring.

2. Add tomatoes, vinegar, sugar and crushed garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Add olives and capers, stir well. Simmer, partially covered, for 15-20 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle pinenuts over to serve.

   * To salt or not to salt? In Europe eggplant is salted before cooking to remove the bitter juices, but the improved varieties grown in Australia have lost this bitterness – unless they have been on a greengrocer’s shelf too long. Some say salting also helps to reduce the amount of oil absorbed during cooking.