Eggplant Caponata Salad

Caponata (pronounced ka·puh·naa·tuh)adapted from DELICIOUS, is a classic Sicilian appetizer or side dish mainly made of eggplants, onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes with capers and olives. In short, it is a cousin of the French ratatouille and can be served with toasted ciabatta, pasta and to pair with fish. I used long, slender light purple Chinese eggplants, but you can use Lebanese eggplants, white eggplants or regular globe eggplants. This recipe makes a lot but keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days.
Vincotto is an Italian sweet and savoury condiment that is produced by gentle, long simmering of grape must. If you don't have it, simply use balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar instead.

	Garlic Tomato Sauce
8 Long, slender Chinese eggplants, halved lengthways 1 tsp Sea salt 1 tbsp Vincotto vinegar (I used raspberry vincotto vinegar from ALDI) 2 tbsp Olive oil Freshly milled black pepper 100 g Arugula leaves 1 tbsp Capers, rinsed and drained 50 g Black olives Flat parsley, roughly chopped or basil leaves, picked	60 ml Olive oil 1 Red onion, peeled and chopped 2 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 Red bell pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped 500 g Tomato passata

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Place the eggplants, cut-side up on a baking tray and sprinkle with sea salt. Set aside for 10 minutes to soften slightly, then brush with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and season with freshly milled black pepper. Roast for 25 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven.
For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until aromatic. Add garlic and red bell pepper, then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened and golden. Add tomato passata and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced, then remove from heat. Season, then cool slightly.
To serve, place the rocket leaves on a serving plate. Top with eggplant halves and drizzle over cooking juices. Spoon over garlic tomato sauce and top with capers, black olives and chopped parsley or basil leaves.

29 comments:

The Happy Whisk 23/4/23 23:09: I've seen those eggplants though I don't recall buying them. I used to grow baby ghost eggplants though. So cute!
Cooking Julia 23/4/23 23:13: Your eggplants are so special, I've never seen such ones before. And your salad looks delicious!
Lowcarb team member 23/4/23 23:19: A very nice recipe ... thank you.

All the best Jan
Christine 24/4/23 00:01: Very nice.
Brian's Home Blog 24/4/23 00:48: That is so darn pretty, yum!
Hena Tayeb 24/4/23 03:07: That looks absolutely delicious.
foodtravelandwine 24/4/23 03:57: Caponata is one of my favorite dishes!!!....It looks so yummy!!.........Abrazotes, Marcela
Tom 24/4/23 04:21: ...I love eggplant and Aldi.
J.P. Alexander 24/4/23 04:35: Gracias por la receta. Te mando un beso.
Margaret D 24/4/23 07:01: Looking great.
Rainbow Evening 24/4/23 07:13: we cook eggplant sometimes ... nice taste.
Lola Martínez 24/4/23 07:29: A mi me encantan las berenjenas, como has podido ver en mi blog, así que tu caponata la prepararé seguro.
Un beso.
Sherry's Pickings 24/4/23 08:43: i love eggplant and olives and rocket and capers! Sounds delish!
eileeninmd 24/4/23 11:09: Hello,
Looks delicious, I like eggplant! Thanks for sharing. Take care, have a wonderful week!
speedy70 24/4/23 11:53: Ottimo contorno, adoro le melanzane!!
Javier 24/4/23 12:32: Such a beautiful salad! I love eggplant therefore I love this salad
DEZMOND 24/4/23 13:26: Such cute little ichibans! We do not have such kleine ichibans here, but they do look cute as sugar. I finally found today Dr Oetker's Vanila Zucker Zero, so I stocked on that and also on pumpkin seed flour! I love my bakes green LOL
Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine 24/4/23 15:37: Delicious and one of our favorites this sounds great eggplant is a staple in our home
Bill 24/4/23 17:39: Looks great, thanks for the recipe.
My name is Erika. 25/4/23 00:05: Those are beautiful purple eggplants and that salad looks delicious.
Ben | Havocinthekitchen 25/4/23 02:33: Terrific flavours, textures, and colours - such a wonderful twist on old Italian classic!
DeniseinVA 25/4/23 16:27: Looks amazing, a work of art! I have never seen this type of eggplant in our local stores. I'll pay particular attention the next time I go. Thanks Angie :)
David 25/4/23 18:36: Angie, Another beautiful salad! My salad would look a bit different though. Greens are out due to meds so my salad last night was cauliflower florets and cherry tomatoes with blue cheese dressing. Also, I don't care for eggplant, onions (unless blended into a sauce), bell peppers or olives. Drives my wife crazy! FYI...ribeye steaks tonight! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Pam 25/4/23 19:33: It looks so delicious!
lisaiscooking 25/4/23 20:04: The mix of flavors and colors is so great! Love the bed of arugula and the use of vincotto.
Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina 26/4/23 04:49: Although I'm not a big fan of eggplant, I must say this is just brimming with color and texture that invites me to try it again!
tigerfish 27/4/23 04:09: Even the Chinese eggplant looks different from what we have here. Always enjoy eggplant with tomato sauce. Yummy. And now I know caponata and ratatouille are cousins :p
Raymund 28/4/23 03:12: I've never tried vincotto vinegar before, but I'm definitely intrigued by it. I appreciate the alternative suggestions if I can't find it at my local store.
valentina 29/4/23 05:16: This variety of eggplant is my favorite. So pretty and it becomes so crisp. This dish is another beauty! :-) ~Valentina