Name: Caponatina di Melanzane (Sicilian aubergine relish)
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 500 g ripe tomatoes, chopped; 6–8 tbsp olive oil; 50 g caster sugar; 1 large onion, sliced; ½ tsp ground cloves; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 2 celery hearts (inner heads only), cut into little chunks; 600 g meaty aubergines salt; 100 g pitted green olives; 60 g salted capers, rinsed; 100 g slivered almonds; 2 ripe but firm pears, cored, peeled and sliced; 50 ml white wine vinegar

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Antonio Carluccio's Italia

By Antonio Carluccio

Published 2005

About

This is one of Sicily’s most popular and versatile aubergine dishes. You can eat it with bread, as part of an antipasto, or as a side dish with hot or cold meats or fish. This is the original recipe, from Palermo. A caponatina is a ‘small’ caponata. Ideally you want the pale violet type of aubergine, without too many seeds.

Ingredients

600 g meaty aubergines salt
6–8 tbsp olive oil
1 large

Method

Cut the aubergines into cubes, the size of a walnut. Immerse in saltéd water for 1 hour, then drain, squeezing the water out. Pat the aubergine cubes dry.

Heat about 6 tbsp of the olive oil in a sauté pan and fry the aubergine cubes until golden. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Adding more oil to the pan if necessary, fry the onion until soft, then add all the other i