Caponata

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 tbsp raisins
• 1 orange(s)
• 4 tomatoes
• 4 shallots or 1 vegetable onion
• 2 stalk(s) Celery
• 1 eggplant(s)
• 3 bell peppers, colored
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 100 ml wine vinegar
• ⅛ liter vegetable broth
• olive oil
• 1 tbsp capers, pickled
• 12 small green olives, pitted and halved
• 1 tbsp pine nuts and/or almond slivers
• Salt and pepper from the mill

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 5 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 6 hours 30 minutes

vegetarian

Soak raisins in orange juice (best done the night before), soak capers in water. Halve eggplant, salt the cut surface, and let stand for at least 1 hour. Pit olives. Blanch celery stalks (whole) in salted water (they should still be firm to the bite), then rinse and let cool slightly. Remove strings from stalks and cut celery into pieces, set aside. Score tomatoes crosswise and dip in boiling water for 20 seconds, rinse, peel, quarter, and deseed. Halve peppers, deseed, and grill cut-side down until blisters form. Let cool slightly under a damp cloth, then peel and cut into strips or pieces. Caramelize icing sugar in a pan over low heat, deglaze with vinegar, and reduce to a boil. Pour in vegetable stock and simmer briefly. Peel the shallots (onions), cut into 2 cm leaves, and lightly brown in olive oil over low heat (in a large pan, as this is where the vegetables will go). Rinse the eggplants with cold water, dry thoroughly with kitchen paper, cut into cubes or slices, fry in olive oil (in batches) until crispy, and drain on kitchen paper. Lightly toast the pine nuts and/or almonds in a small pan without fat (carefully, as they burn easily and then become bitter). Add the eggplants, celery, bell peppers, raisins with their juice, capers, olives, and seeds to the onions. Stir in the vinegar and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Heat briefly again if necessary. Let stand for a few hours (preferably overnight). Before serving, sprinkle with chopped tender celery leaves (the tender leaves from the stalks) and, if desired, fresh basil or fresh mint. Note: You can leave out the raisins, but I wouldn’t do without the (freshly squeezed!) orange juice. The vegetables can also be varied. The bell peppers aren’t included in the original recipe. Small diced potatoes (blanched and then fried in olive oil) are also good. The sky’s the limit. (Carrots, zucchini, etc.) For example, I sautéed a finely chopped (seeded) chili pepper with the onions. And now: off to the kitchen! It’s a lot of work, but worth it. And above all, it’s easy to prepare for guests, as it can be kept in the fridge for a few days and actually gets better each time. Serve as a side dish with fish and pan-fried meat, or simply with white bread (great gently toasted in olive oil with a little garlic in a pan).