Sicily is undoubtedly one of the most popular destinations for art and cuisine, and one of its gastronomic symbols is undoubtedly Sicilian Caponata , of which I share the recipe of dear friends from Carini, near Palermo, whom we feel are part of our family. The only change I made is not frying aubergines… I hope you’ll forgive me!
Precisely because of its Italian character, I chose the Caponata recipe as the star of a fantastic project to make the international public aware of what the products of a virtuous cosmetics company contain, Davines which uses Slow Food Presidia to extract its active ingredients. So you can watch the video made in the Davines Scientific Garden to discover that the ingredients of Caponata are also the ingredients of solid shampoos that are as friendly to humans as they are to the environment.
So have a good trip to discover a recipe that makes us beautiful inside and out!
Non fried Sicilian Caponata
9.34g carbohydrates per 100g
Ingredients for 6-8 servings
- 830g aubergines, preferably round or striped
- 550g tomato sauce and peeled tomatoes
- 300g onions
- 225g celery
- 150g pitted green olives*
- 60g raisins
- 40g pine nuts
- 30g salted capers
- 10g sugar
- extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt
**Ingredients specific for celiacs
*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)
Preparation of Non fried Sicilian Caponata
- Wash and peel the aubergines, then dice them, sprinkle them with a pinch of fine salt and leave them to drain in a colander for a couple of hours. Blot the aubergines to remove the water they have released and fry them in a non-stick frying pan with a little oil (this is the step that makes the difference to the original Sicilian recipe in which the aubergines are deep fried).
- Soak the raisins in water.
- Meanwhile, cut the celery in pieces and cook it for about 5 minutes in boiling water, then drain it (without throwing away the cooking water) and set it aside.
- Cut the pitted olives in half and set aside.
- In a non-stick frying pan, pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the sliced onion, then add the celery, olives and well-desalted capers and leave to gain flavour for about ten minutes.
- In the meantime, in another non-stick pan, cook the tomato sauce and peeled tomatoes for about 15 minutes so that they shrink, adding sugar and a pinch of salt. Finally, pour in the vegetable mixture, aubergines, wrung out raisins and pine nuts. Stir and cook for about a minute, then remove from the heat and add white wine vinegar to taste. Adjust salt if necessary and serve Caponata warm or cold.
Version with gluten of Non fried Sicilian Caponata
The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.
