I've never liked eggplant. In fact, I used to refuse to eat it. But after Beck was born, my sweet friend Angela brought over Eggplant Caponata for dinner one evening. I have to admit, when she said 'eggplant' I thought to myself, "Yuck, I hope Matt can eat all of this himself!" But I was thankful for the dinner and tried it and... oh.my.goodness...I have become an eggplant enthusiast! I now love eggplant and ask Matt to grill it or make this caponata dish all the time.
So thank you Angela for making me love eggplant! And to those of you who don't like it, try this dish and you will be a changed person too! :) This meal is super easy...it takes about 30 minutes max to make. Make sure you whip up some couscous too. We like to put the caponata on top of the couscous for a complete dinner. Enjoy!
Eggplant Caponata
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (twice around the pan)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded
1 Cubanelle Italian long green pepper, seeded (or Anaheim pepper)
1 large sweet onion, peeled
2 ribs celery
½ cup large green olives, cracked away from the pits
½ cup Kalamata black olives, cracked away from the pits
1 jar (2 ounces) capers, drained
½ cup golden raisins (a couple of handfuls)
1 medium firm eggplant, diced
Salt
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (14 ounces) crushed tomatoes
A handful of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Preheat a big, deep pot over medium heat. Add oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Place your cutting board near the stovetop, and toss the vegetables into the pot as you
chop them. Dice peppers, chop onion and celery. Then, coarsely chop olives, and stir in
along with the capers and raisins. Dice and salt the eggplant and stir in. Increase the heat
a bit, add diced and crushed tomatoes and stir caponata well to combine. Cover pot and
cook, 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Stir in parsley and remove from heat.
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