Do you love eggplant the way I love them? A trivial question, of course, but I just didn't know how else to start publishing. Because eggplant is a very underrated vegetable. Caviar is prepared from them, they are baked, but... not all of them.
Perhaps the underestimation is due to the fact that for central Russia it is, after all, an imported product. Here they grow only when dancing with tambourines and in greenhouses.
But where the eggplant is a resident of open ground, which does not require shelter. Oh, in those countries there are tons of delicious recipes.
One of my favorites is the Sicilian caponata. In science - antipasti, but in science. In fact, it can be eaten separately - with bread, it can be reheated and served with pasta (sorry, pasta), you can give it as a side dish to meat dishes or as an additional side dish if we have fig. It can be combined with cereals and potato dishes... In general, the range of applications for caponata is as wide as the imagination stretches.
So what do we take for cooking
• 1.5 kg eggplant cubes
• 2 tablespoons (25 ml) salt
• 1/3 cup (75 ml) olive oil
• Cut 4 celery stalks into pieces about a centimeter long and blanch immediately
• Chop 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium onions cut into thin quarter rings
• 500 ml tomato puree (not paste!) Or a can of tomatoes in their own juice (you can make a puree from them)
• A couple of tablespoons of pine nuts (lightly fry)
• Large bunch of greenery
• A jar of pitted olives, preferably assorted
• 50 ml balsamic vinegar
• Salt, sugar and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
You will also need olive or vegetable oil.
How we cook:
Put the eggplant cubes in a colander, mix with salt and let stand for an hour. We are just preheating the oven - we need 200 degrees.
Now we wash the eggplants. Dry with a towel, mix with a couple of tablespoons of oil and put on a baking sheet.
We will have them in the oven for about 20 minutes, while occasionally we need to stir them. Readiness is determined by the fact that the eggplant should be soft and slightly brown.
Now in a large, thick frying pan, preferably heat a couple of tablespoons of oil and send blanched celery, onions and garlic there. We cook all this until the onion becomes soft.
As soon as this happens, add eggplant, tomato puree, herbs and coarsely chopped olives to the pan. Salt, pepper, pour in balsamic vinegar and straighten the taste with sugar or honey - whoever is too sour.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Final - pour the nuts, mix, turn off the heating and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Bon Appetit!