Caponata by Giorgio Locatelli
If you don’t like fennel or celery, leave them out and increase all the other ingredients slightly.
Keep in mind that this is not a fixed recipe; it is something that is done according to taste and
you can change it as you like. Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 large aubergine
olive oil for frying
1 onion, cut into 2 cm dice
vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 celery sticks, cut into 2 cm dice
1⁄2 fennel bulb, cut into 2 cm dice
1 courgette, cut into 2 cm dice
3 fresh plum tomatoes, cut into 2 cm dice
a bunch of basil
50 g sultanas
50 g pine nuts
about 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons good-quality red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato passata
1 tablespoon caster sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut the aubergine into 2 cm cubes, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain in a colander for at
least 2 hours. Squeeze lightly to get rid of excess liquid.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and gently sauté the onion until soft but not coloured. Transfer
to a large bowl.
Put the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer or a large deep saucepan (no more than one third
full) and heat to 180°C. Add the celery and deep-fry for 1–2 minutes, until tender and golden.
Drain on kitchen paper.
Wait until the oil comes back up to the right temperature, then put in the fennel. Cook and
drain in the same way, then repeat with the aubergine and courgette.
Add all the deep-fried vegetables to the bowl containing the onion, together with the diced
tomatoes.
Tear the basil leaves and add them to the bowl with all the rest of the
ingredients, seasoning well. Cover the bowl with cling film while the vegetables
are still warm and leave to infuse for at least 2 hours before serving at room
temperature. Don’t put it in the fridge or you will dull the flavours. It is this
process of ‘steaming’ inside the cling film and cooling down very slowly that
changes caponata from a kind of fried vegetable salad, with lots of different
tastes, to something with a more unified, distinctive flavour.