Caponatina is a variant of Caponata, a Sicilian eggplant/olive antipasto.
This is ‘the recipe’ my grandmother taught me before she passed away in 1992. Her family was from Scilla, a small seaside Calabrian village across the channel from Messina, Sicily. The style of cooking in Scilla can be described as very Calabrese with definite Sicilian influences – Pretty much my grandmother’s style of cooking. After all, she learned from her mother, a mix of Calabrese and Siciliani fare. She also learned Napolitani from her mother-in-law. My wife and I had the privilege of visited Scilla in 2008, when I returned home with a better understanding and respect for my grandmother’s style of cooking.
When cutting the eggplant in small cubes, place in a large bowl of cold salted-water. This keeps the eggplant from getting brown (oxidation) and helps prevent too much oil from being soaked in during cooking. Rinse and drain prior to frying.
Dice celery and onions. The total volume of the chopped and diced celery and onions should equal the volume of cooked eggplant. I usually do about 1 large onion and 4-5 stalks celery.
Jarred or canned olives are okay, I usually use 1 jar of Manzanillo (stuffed with peppers), 1 jar of pre diced Kalamata (or black) olives and ½ or ¾ cup of sun-dried (bitter) Calabrian black olives. Remove seeds if needed. Rinse with cold water and drain.
1. The Eggplant – In a large skillet, bring the avocado oil up to temperature. Cook eggplant until lightly brown, remove. Add more olive oil only when necessary, eggplant will soak it up. Set the eggplant aside in a bowl. Don’t over use the olive oil, eggplant has a tendency to soak up the oil, but will release some as it approaches being done.
2. The Caponatina – In a deep-dish large skillet or large sauce pan, cook the onions and celery in olive oil. Stir constantly and when the onions are just beginning to show some translucence reduce heat to medium.
3. Now’s the time add the olives and capers followed by the eggplant, mix well and let simmer for about 5-minutes.
5. then add the chopped basil, sugar, salt and pepper.
6. Simmer for 5-10 minutes mixing fairly often. Let cool until room temperature, stirring occasionally while adding the optional pine nuts.
Best served cold on Italian bread (panini) as a sandwich.
Please share, my grandmother would love you it!
I have made this recipe and it is delicious! Large quantity and ideal for sharing.
What a great foodie website and a wonderful tribite to our grandmother Marianna (Marion) Bellantonio-Crescenzo whom we both learned how to cook from since we lived in the same double family style house growing up in Brooklyn with three kitchens. Every respectable italian immigrant had a third kitchen put in their basements.
This is such a great tribute to our grandmother, our family and our culture.
Thank you for putting together such a wonderful site honoring our heritage.