Caponata from Mario

There are a myriad of variants of this Sicilian vegetable dish. It can be eaten as cold, as an appetizer, as well as hot — as a side dish.
I suggest to try Caponata from Mario Batali (American Italian) — famous American chef, TV show presenter and writer.
Unusual combination of eggplant and orange. Raisins, nuts and spices gives spiciness, piquancy and tangy taste to the dish!

Preparation

Dish prepares very quickly. The main is to prepare products directly.

So: Cut onion into half rings. Finely chop garlic.

Cut eggplant into along slices, and slices into stripes.

Peel zest from the orange (without white part) and cut into thin strips. Squeeze juice from one orange — about 1/4 cup.



Heat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion, garlic, pine nuts, raisins and pepper seeds 6-8 minutes until onion softene. Stir constantly.



Add eggplant, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring periodically.



Put thyme, tomatoes, orange juice and zest.



Increase the heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook caponata for another 5 minutes. Salt, pepper.



Serve caponata room temperature. Better the next day. Store in refrigerator up to five days.

.

Top of recipe "Caponata from Mario"