Serves: 5
Total Calories: 165
Yield: 2 quarts

2 small eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
olive oil
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 cup celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large can whole pear-shaped tomato
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce or puree
1/2 teaspoon caper juice
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 cup ripe green olives, coarsely chopped
1 cup ripe black olives, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup seedless raisins
2 tablespoons capers

Salt eggplant and let sit about 1 hour for bitter liquid to drain. Rinse eggplant to remove extra salt. Pat dry.

In a large nonstick pan, sauté eggplant in olive oil until browned. Do eggplant in batches to prevent crowding. You only need about 2 tablespoons oil per batch. Remove to casserole dish. Sauté onions in oil for a short while, until soft. Add to casserole dish. Add to sauté pan the celery, garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce, caper juice, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning and seasoned salt. Cook sauce for 20 minutes, dissolve sugar in wine vinegar and add to sauce. Meanwhile, add olives, raisins and capers to eggplant. Pour sauce over the mix. Bake at 375° for about 1 hour or more, or until thick and everything looks soft. Chill and serve.

Note: Serve with assorted specialty crackers such as Water Crackers or Euphrates or as an antipasto. Caponata also makes a wonderful pizza topping, or if you add more tomatoes and sauce, and don't cook it down too much, it is wonderful on pasta.

Caponata is better after it sits for a few days. It keeps well in the refrigerator and freezes beautifully. You can substitute fresh herbs for the dry, but in much larger quantities. If you cannot find green olives, use all black. (Cosentino's market carries the green ones). Recipe can be doubled easily. Cook for a little longer.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 5
Total Calories: 165
Calories from Fat: 0

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