Tag: Caponata

Sicilian caponata: the original Palermo recipe – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Tasty, comforting, it embodies the whole Mediterranean. There caponata Siciliana, side summer par excellence, was born in Sicily and today it is widespread and appreciated throughout Italy thanks to that unmistakable sweet and sour flavour. Cold, warm and room temperature, it really is irresistible and if it is served on a slice of toasted bread it can even represent an appetizer or a main course. Loved by vegetarians and omnivoresinitially it was also prepared with fish, while today the best known variant it is the one based on suns vegetable ingredients.

Sicilian caponata: the numerous versions

From caponata Siciliana they exist numerous versions but what is certain is that the eggplant they cannot be missed and that all the ingredients they must be individually prepared to be united only at the end. In the alone Sicily at least they can be counted four variations of caponata: a Catania among the ingredients there are also: peppers red and yellow, e.g Agrigento in addition to peppers there are the olives black but not the green ones, a Messina woe betide using concentrate for the benefit of tomatoes fresh it’s at Palermo there recipe that is performed is yet another.

Sicilian caponata: the Palermo recipe

A mix of fried vegetables (otherwise it’s not caponata!) and then pan-fried with a sauce based on sugar and vinegar: this is the secret to obtaining the original Palermo Sicilian caponata from the typical one sweet and sour taste.

Ingredients for 6 people

1 kg of long aubergines
250 g of tomato sauce
80 g of pitted green olives
60 g of desalted capers
60 ml of white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 golden onion
1 stalk of celery
extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil
salt

Method

Start preparing the Sicilian caponata by draining the aubergines. Wash them well with running water, cut off the end with the stalk, cut them into slices a couple of centimeters thick and collect them in a bowl. Sprinkle with coarse salt and place a weight on top. After about an hour, rinse them well with fresh water and let them drain on sheets of absorbent paper. When they are well drained, cut them into cubes.
Pour into a large pan oil and when it is hot, fry the aubergines until golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and let them drain on absorbent paper for fried foods.
Clean the celery, wash it with cold water and cut it into pieces more or less the size of the aubergines. Blanch it for a few minutes in boiling salted water and drain it.
Pour the sugar and vinegar into a bowl and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. Keep aside.
Peel the onion and chop it finely. In a saucepan, fry the chopped onion in the oil for a couple of minutes, taking care not to let it burn. Also add the capers and blanched pieces of celery and leave to flavor for a few minutes, stirring often.
Add the olives and tomato sauce to the saucepan. Mix, add salt and cook for five minutes. Finally add the aubergines and the sweet and sour sauce. Mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are well blended. Season with salt, turn off the heat and flavor with the basil.
Let the caponata rest and serve it at room temperature so the flavor of the vinegar will be less intrusive.

Which aubergines are used to make caponata?

The types of aubergines that would be best to choose for making Sicilian caponata are the “violet” type, like – needless to say – the long Palermo violet. This type of aubergines are characterized by elongated shape and from very firm pulp which holds up well to cooking while remaining intact and compact.

caponata – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

There eggplant it is undoubtedly the main ingredient of this exquisite Sicilian recipe, and yet, the legend about caponata tells that its place was originally occupied by the “precious” dolphin fish, also known as capone fish. The aubergine came as a replacement for a “social” need, i.e. to give even the less wealthy class the opportunity to enjoy the dish, which would otherwise be excessively expensive.

Advice

If you want to reduce the bitter taste of the aubergine and want it to release its vegetation liquid, cut the aubergines into slices, sprinkle each slice with salt and arrange them, one on top of the other, in a colander. Cover them with a tray, add a weight on top to keep them well pressed, and leave them for at least 2 hours. Then proceed according to the recipe.

Timbale of artichoke caponata – Italian Cuisine

1) Jumbled up flour with sugar and 2 pinches of salt. Add soft butter, egg and mix by adding 1 dl of ice water, a little at a time. When the dough is smooth, roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Grease a 14 cm diameter mold and line it with the dough, making it overflow. Coated the inside with the slices of ham, letting them overflow too. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge.

2) Cut half the artichokes, deleted the internal hay and rub them with 1/2 lemon. Obtained from the orange 6 strips of zest, then cut them into julienne strips; squeeze the juice. Peel and slice the onion, stew it in a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, unite the artichokes, add salt, add the thyme leaves and half of the zest. Deglaze with the wine and sprinkle with the juice. After 5 minutes, cover and carry on cooking 10 minutes until the artichokes are tender and the cooking juices have evaporated. United capers, olives and 50 g of almonds and turn off the heat.

3) Beat eggs with cream, salt and pepper. Add the artichokes and pour everything into the mold. Fold the slices of ham and excess pasta over the filling and cook at 180 degrees for 60 minutes. Leave warm the timbale and turn it out on a serving dish.

4) Obtained the pomegranate seeds. Cut fillet the remaining almonds and toast them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and the remaining zest for 2 minutes. Out of the fire, add the juice of the remaining half lemon, the pomegranate seeds, the chopped parsley and a pinch of salt. Garnish the timbale with the pomegranate mix and serve warm.

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