Ciao Gusto Ciao Gusto

Sidebar

Off-Canvas Sidebar

The new Off-Canvas sidebar is designed for multi-purposes. You can now display menu or modules in Off-Canvas sidebar.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Would you like to receive Italian Recipes and Cooking Tips monthly directly into your mailbox?

Then subscribe for free to our newsletter

ITALIAN RECIPES BY:

  2. Home
  3. Main Ingredient
  4. Fish
  5. Aubergine and mackerel caponata

Aubergine and mackerel caponata

dairyFree delicius glutenFree preserves

Buy

Print

 

Share with friends

Aubergine and mackerel caponata
  • 19%
    376,8 kcal
  • 50%
    25,63 g
  • 20%
    18,67 g
  • 11%
    30,93 g
  • 0%
    0,682 g

    Preparation time

    0:35 min

    Cooking time

    0:35 min

    Difficulty

    easy

    Servings

    serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 aubergines, one black and one purple
  • 250 g preserved mackerel fillets in olive oil / in brine
  • 200 g Supercirio tomato paste
  • 100 g Gaeta olives
  • 1 large onion (fresh or Cannamela's)
  • 1 celery heart
  • 1 clove of garlic (fresh or Cannamela's)
  • 4-5 spoonfuls of Ponti white wine vinegar
  • 2 spoonful of sugar
  • 2 branches of fresh oregano (or Cannamela's)
  • Filippo Berio extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • >> Serve with:
  • Colussi reduced salt crackers
  • OR: Amica Chips wholemeal Frumì croutons
Read

Method

  1. Dice the aubergines, salt them lightly to allow them drain to lose some of their water content in a strainer for 20 minutes.
  2. Rinse the aubergines, squeeze them and dry them carefully with a cloth.
  3. Warm up half a glass of oil in a non-stick pan, add the aubergines and cook until they become golden-brown all over.
  4. Finally, drain them with a skimmer and season with salt.
  5. Coarsely chop the onion, fry it in a pan with a clove of unpeeled garlic.
  6. Add the diced celery, fry lightly and leave for a further 5 minutes to enhance the taste.
  7. Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with vinegar and add the tomato paste.
  8. Cook for 15 minutes leaving the pan partially uncovered.
  9. Add the aubergines after draining them carefully, followed by the olives, and continue to cook for 10 minutes.
  10. Season with fresh oregano leaves.
  11. Take off the stove and leave to cool, then add the mackerel fillets after cutting them into large pieces.
  12. Allow to cool down completely.
  13. Serve the cold caponata (better if cooled in the fridge for a few hours) with warm bread croutons.
Read

Chef's tip

Make sure you take your time and let the aubergines lose all their water - this will take away the bitterness of this extraordinary vegetable. If you want to make this dish vegetarian simply omit the mackerel fillets.

Serving suggestion

Served with some crispy homemade bread, this dish makes a perfect all-in-one course. You can still serve some crudités or a colourful salad.

Wine selection

Chianti DOCG, Nero D'Avola, Sirah.

Family tip

You can create your own version of this caponata by replacing the vegetables with the ones you love the most or by using another kind of fish.

Dish history

The 'caponata' is a very typical, well-known Sicilian dish. Basically made of fried vegetables dressed with a rich sweet and sour tomato sauce, there are many slightly different versions according to where it is cooked. Its name, 'caponata', comes from the name 'capone', which was the popular name of an expensive fish called 'lampuga', commonly eaten by the wealthiest families with the sweet and sour sauce which is typical of the caponata. In order to make this dish affordable to more people, the smart peasants replaced the fine fish with the inexpensive aubergines and created the nowadays famous 'caponata'.