As we have said many times before, at Spice Mountain we love aubergines! And this is one of our favourite preparations, a recipe from Sicily which (like many Sicilian recipes) is heavily influenced by North African cooking. We have tweaked the classic recipe slightly by adding a little of our new Tunisian Tabil blend, which obviously makes the dish even more North African. If you prefer to leave this out of your dish, it will be just as delicious. Caponata is lovely served as a light supper with some bruschetta, it will go down well as a starter for pretty much any meal, and it can even be used as a pasta sauce.
01.
Ingredients
2 large aubergines, cut into 2cm cubes
2 banana shallots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
1tsp Tunisian Tabil blend
2tsp capers
50g raisins
100ml olive oil
Celery salt to taste
50ml red wine vinegar
handful toasted pine nuts
02.
Method
- In a large, heavy pan heat the olive oil. Add the aubergines and cook for a good 15-20 minutes until they are soft. Scoop them out of the pan – they will have taken on a lot of the oil, but there should be some left. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and cook till soft and translucent.
- Now add the tomatoes and cook everything together slowly till nicely mushed up, then return the aubergine to the pan.
- Add the Tabil blend and give it a good stir, then add the capers, raisins, celery and vinegar plus a little celery salt and pepper.
- Cover the pan and cook on a low heat for 40 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft, and the sweet and sour aroma fills the kitchen.
- Let the caponata cool slightly, then scatter over the toasted pine nuts and a few torn basil leaves.
