Eggplant Caponata

When my hubby and I first moved into our rural home, we took a day and ventured out to explore our new world. We had fun on our adventure and finally came upon a great authentic Italian Deli, to our extreme delight.  Now, although we traveled about two hours in our exploration, the shop happened to be about 15 minutes away from home.  Not bad.  It was at that deli where I was introduced to Caponata.  There are many variations of this yummy dish and below is one from http://norecipes.com which was delish!  Serve with a crusty Italian bread and a nice bottle of red.

Eggplant Caponata

Recipe and photo from http://norecipes.com

1 medium globe eggplant peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 Tbs kosher salt (less if you’re using table salt)
1 red bell bell pepper seeds quartered, seeds removed
1/4 C olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs drained capers
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 C leaf parsley, stems removed and chopped

Put the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with 1 Tbs kosher salt. Toss to coat and leave it over a bowl for an hour.

Grill or broil the bell pepper until the skin is charred then wrap in foil until cool. Trapping the steam like this makes it much easier to remove the skins. When they are cool, peel the pepper and remove any excessively charred bits. Slice into thin short strips.

When the eggplant is done salting, rinse in a bowl of cold water to remove excess salt. Squeeze the eggplant with your hands to wring out as much moisture as you can.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onions until until they are translucent and just start turning brown around the edges. Add the eggplant, bell peppers and thyme. Salt and pepper to taste stirring until the eggplant is very soft and starts to loose its shape.

Add the balsamic vinegar and capers and stir until there is no liquid left. Take off the heat and add the garlic and parsley. You can serve this immediately with some crusty bread, but it tastes even better the next day.