Best Eggplant Caponata

One of my favorite Sicilian recipes, this authentic eggplant caponata combines sweet and tangy flavors for the ultimate side dish. Make it ahead- it gets better as it sits!

Eggplant caponata is a combination of crispy fried (or roasted) eggplant, onions, celery, capers, and olives simmered to perfection in a sweet and tangy tomato sauce. It’s a classic Sicilian recipe.

At first glance, one could call it an “eggplant stew” or even a “relish” of some sorts. But simply put: eggplant caponata is a unique and flavorful side dish used to accompany grilled meats, fish and even pasta. I love it on sourdough bread crostini or sourdough focaccia with a shower of fresh parsley on top. Delicious.

Now, in your recipe research you’ll come across several variations of eggplant caponata. Some versions include raisins, red bell peppers, fresh mint and other seasonal ingredients. Delicious in their own right (although I prefer mine without the bell peppers- too overpowering!), the eggplant will always be the star of the show. There are no substitutions. My version is adapted from Fabrizia Lanza’s famous recipe, by way of David Lebovitz. It’s authentic as it gets!

Caponata Ingredients: You Will Need

• Olive oil
• Eggplant
• Celery
• Onion
• Green olives
• Capers
• Tomato sauce (homemade Sicilian-style or jarred, I like Rao’s)
• Red wine vinegar
• Granulated sugar
• Large handful or fresh green herbs, such as parsley or basil, roughly chopped
• Good sourdough bread or focaccia, to serve

Recipe Tips:

• Out of olives and capers? Try Tapenade instead! This is an excellent shortcut. Tapenade is a combination of chopped green or black olives, capers, olive oil (and sometimes garlic and fresh herbs). A few spoonfuls will do. I discovered this tip by accident when using a chunky, store-bought green olive tapenade from Whole Foods.
• Freeze your tomato sauce. When I make a big batch of my Sicilian tomato sauce, I portion it into small containers and freeze. I label them “For caponata only” so it’s always available. My authentic pomodoro sauce (fresh or canned) works too.
• Roast the eggplant. Authentic caponata calls for fried eggplant, which I love. But some prefer roasting it instead. This totally works. Just make sure your oven is hot enough to achieve the same effect, about 425 F will do. Do not over crowd the pan. The eggplant will steam.
• Make it ahead. Caponata can be made up to 1 week in advance or frozen. Add more fresh herbs to serve.

How to Make Caponata

To begin, the eggplant is cooked separately in batches. You can either deep fry it in olive oil or roast it for a healthier alternative. Either way, eggplant is like a sponge and it will absorb a good amount of oil no matter what. I’ve found that a shallow stove-top fry is a practical compromise while maintaining maximum flavor and easy clean up. It’s my preferred method every time.

After the eggplant is cooked, the onions and celery are sautéed in the same pan and simmered with chunky green olives, capers, tomato sauce, red wine vinegar and a bit of sugar until the flavors meld together. Then the fried eggplant joins the pan. The key to spectacular caponata is finding the right balance of sweet and tangy flavors, so taste and adjust with more vinegar or sugar as you go.

To finish, once the mixture is cool, I like to add fresh green herbs. Then, the caponata is chilled overnight to deepen the flavor. Caponata always tastes better the next day.

More Sicilian Recipes to Try!

• Quick Sicilian-Style Tomato Sauce
• Sicilian Potato Salad with Green Beans
• Easy Pesto alla Trapanese (Sicilian Pesto)
• Classic Italian Sesame Cookies {Reginelle Cookies}

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