Step by Step: Garden Vegetable Caponata

With backyard gardens and farmers’ markets bursting forth with beautiful produce, there is no better time to love vegetables than right now. How glorious it is to wander into your garden and pluck off a variety of veg for your summer supper! Or, if the farmers’ market is more your thing, a Saturday morning is well spent when tucking a variety of garden goodies into your basket. 

For me, the summer months are all about eating fresh and local, savouring and celebrating the moments as much as possible. Because the season is so short-lived, I have crushes on all kinds of vegetables, but the trifecta of tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplant is near the top of the list. When combined, you know that only delicious things can happen - like caponata. 

Caponata is a Sicilian eggplant salad that’s more like a relish. It is tangy, briny, slightly sweet, and has a wonderful silky texture. Caponata is quite lovely when served with crusty bread or crostini. Talk about ideal summer snacking! In addition to the aforementioned vegetables, you’ll need onions, celery, garlic, tomato paste, capers, red wine vinegar (sherry vinegar works well too), and raisins. Yes, raisins. As a card-carrying raisin hater I was going to omit them from this recipe but I’m glad I didn’t. They add a complex sweetness to the dish, and with everything else going on, I swear you can’t even tell they are in there. As you can imagine, there are quite a few variations on caponata, some with and without olives. I love the briny vibe they give to this eggplant salad-relish so into the mix they go! And what is summer food without plenty of fresh herbs? Parsley and basil are the stars here. 

Now, let’s grab the cutting board and get chopping! Firstly, the eggplant is cubed and roasted with olive oil until it’s tender and golden around the edges. While that’s in the oven, the capers and raisins are soaking in the vinegar, and the onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, olives, and tomato paste are stirred around in a skillet until everything is married together and saucy. All the components are then added together and cooked a little longer. Toss in the herbs, season to taste, and that’s all there is to it. 

While you may be tempted to dip into the caponata right away, it’s best to wait until it’s at room temperature. Better yet, refrigerate it for a couple of days and then serve it with crusty bread or crostini. The time spent in the refrigerator only enhances the flavours even more, making this an ideal make-ahead appetizer for summer entertaining. 

Other ideas for serving caponata: on a cheese board along with other charcuterie items; slather it onto a sandwich with arugula and fresh mozzarella; toss it with hot pasta and plenty of Parmesan cheese; pile it on top of toast and add a fried egg, add it to pizza; serve with grilled chicken or fish. I swear it tastes even better when eaten outside under a shady umbrella, with something cold and fizzy at hand, and good friends nearby.