Casarecce Pasta Caponata Recipe from Sicily

Prepare the eggplant.

1. Cut the eggplant into cubes with the skin. Place in a colander and cover with about 3-4 handfuls of sea salt. Leave for 30-60 minutes then rinse well and pat dry with kitchen paper or tea towel.

Prepare the other ingredients.

1. Peel and roughly chop the onion. Remove most the strings from the celery. Then wash and cut it into small chunks. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water. Then peel them and cut into pieces. Rinse the capers well if using salted ones. Cut the pitted green olives in half or thirds (depending the size). Wash and then cut off the stem of the sweet peppers. Cut them in half and then remove any pith and seeds inside. Then cut into small rectangular pieces.

Cook the egg plant.

1. Fry the eggplant in hot olive oil until the pieces have browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper or in a bowl. Set aside.

Cook the caponata.

1. If there’s too much oil in the pan where you fried the eggplant remove some. You only need about 3-4 tbsps to fry the other ingredients. Sauté the red pepper pieces until they start to soften slightly. Add the onions and continue cooking for a minute or two. Then add the celery. If necessary add more olive oil. You don’t want the veggies to burn. After 5 minutes add the tomato pieces and continue to cook on a medium heat. Then add the tomato paste and tomato pulp. Continue cooking on a medium heat. Now add the capers and olives. Let the sauce simmer and reduce for 10 minutes.

Cook the pasta.

1. In the meantime put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.  Save a cup of the pasta cooking water before draining the pasta.

Finish the caponata and serve.

1. Once your caponata is nearly ready put back the eggplant and add the vinegar and sugar and turn up the heat a little. Stir well to blend the flavours. Simmer for another 5 minutes then add the cooked pasta to the sauce and mix well. If some reason your sauce seems dry, add a little of the saved pasta cooking water and mix again. Serve immediately with fresh basil or allow to cool and serve as a pasta salad at room temperature.