Caponata

I first had this some years ago in a restaurant and absolutely fell in love with it. Amazingly, I’ve never made it myself; it’s been just one of those items on the ever-lengthening list of things that I never quite get round to….until today!

The first thing to say is that it makes quite a large quantity (which is no bad thing, let me tell you!) The recipe says it serves 6 but, as part of an antipasto platter, it would easily serve 12. The second thing to mention is, I cooked it for about twice as long as the recipe stated because I like the aubergines to be really soft and buttery.

I’m reliably informed that Caponata keeps well in a jar in the fridge with a thin layer of olive oil on the top to seal it. However, it tastes so good that I’m not sure you’ll be keeping it long enough to be bothering with that! Best eaten at room temperature, rather than fridge-cold, with plenty of fresh bread. If you want to serve it hot, it's brilliant with couscous and it can also be used as a seriously good pasta sauce.

There are umpteen recipes for Caponata on the net; I followed this one...

http://www.antonio-carluccio.com/Caponata

If it’s good enough for Antonio Carluccio, it’s good enough for me!