Rustic Caponata

Submitted by TooAllergic

"Wonderfully earthy, like ratatouille, only without the tomato. Use really good olives! I don't use the bell pepper for health reasons, but it adds great color."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1 red onion, diced
• 12 garlic cloves (whole, peeled)
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1 -2 eggplant, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
• 1⁄4 cup white wine
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable broth
• 1⁄4 cup sultana (golden raisins)
• 1⁄4 cup green olives (big and firm)
• 1 tablespoon capers

directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil and onions together, slowly, until they begin to get tender, but do not take on any color (10 minutes).
3. Add garlic and saute 5 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add zucchini, eggplant and pepper. Season (1 tsp or so of each) with salt and black pepper. Add fresh herbs.
5. Toss everything well with the oil, garlic and onions. The eggplant will absorb the oil quickly.
6. Place, uncovered in the oven for 20 minutes.
7. De-glaze the pan with the wine and broth. Stir in Sultanas, olives and capers and cook until most of the juices are gone and everything is tender (about 20 more minutes uncovered).
8. Serve with chopped, fresh parsley and another drizzle of very good olive oil.

Reviews

[Abby Girl]

This dish was yummy...loved it with the olives and capers! I did find the timing was off a bit. My onions cooked way faster than 10 minutes, so I eye balled the rest of the cooking stages. This dish could be made up ahead of time up to the point of putting it in the oven. My dish looked a little washed out as I used white onions and white eggplant, which was what I had on hand! As my DD does not like peppers, mushrooms could be an alternate. Next time, I might add more garlic (as they cooked up quite mellow) less oil (3T) and definately go for the more vibrant color veggies. I would certainly do this recipe again.

 

[Mrs B]

Very good, very tasty and it gave me an excuse to try out my new dutch oven! One teeny comment; even though I sauateed the onions gently, I found that the cloves of garlic 'browned' just a bit too much. I fished them out and dropped new ones in. Although they missed out step 2, they were still cooked and tender. I served this with focaccia rolls and salad.