Alice's Italian Caponata
 
 
Alice's Italian Caponata
Recipe By:
Ingredients
  • 3 large eggplant
  • ½ c. olive oil
  • 1 (16-oz.) container chopped onion mix
  • 2 c. chopped celery
  • 2 large green bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 T. minced garlic
  • 10-12 fresh Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
  • 2 (12-15 oz.) cans Italian plum tomatoes, undrained and cut up into chunks
  • 1 c. stuffed green olives, drained
  • 2 cans pitted medium black olives, drained
  • 1 bottle capers, drained
  • ⅓ c. red wine vinegar
  • 2 T. salt
  • 2 T. sugar
  • 2 T. dried basil
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 1 bunch chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 T. black pepper
  • 1 T. dried oregano
Instructions
  1. In large Dutch oven, heat olive oil.
  2. Cut unpeeled eggplant into 1” cubes. Add this to olive oil along with onions, bell pepper and celery. Saute for 5-8 minutes or until tender.
  3. In food processor, chop the olives, not too mushy.
  4. Add the olives and all the rest of ingredients to the eggplant mixture. Mix well.
  5. Cover pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  6. Remove lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until thick. Taste for seasoning.
  7. Let cool. Store in refrigerator or freeze.
Notes
*****Serve with crackers, corn chips, bagel or pita chips. You can also take this mixture and serve with your favorite pasta, along with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. *****For a nice presentation as an appetizer, hull out a large eggplant. Place the caponata inside the cavity of eggplant. Place on a platter and serve with chips or crackers. If you do the hulled eggplant ahead of time, rub the inside cavity with lemon juice to keep it from turning brown. Wrap in saran wrap and store in refrigerator. I entered this recipe in the Morning Advocate years ago and it won for one of the BEST OF THE YEAR RECIPES. They occasionally rerun the recipe because of the demand for it. I am really proud of this recipe. This goes to my roots so deeply
Recipe by Geaux Ask Alice! at https://geauxaskalice.com/alices-italian-caponata/