Aubergine Caponata

Yes, the title may be a bit tautologous. But the recipe I found was entitled Caponata with Aubergines and I knew that you would be concerned about the fate of the aubergines which were snubbed to make last week's Spicy Lamb Burgers.

It took me a long time to discover the middle eastern dishes of wonder which today's hero can produce. I've made aubergines Parmigiana many times, but it is a bit greasy. Indeed that can be a problem as aubergines suck up oil more efficiently than the average sponge. Ratatouille was an obvious possibility, but again, not my favourite. This dish is Sicilian in origin, which means it could trace its roots back to half a dozen different places.

The secret behind both the French and Sicilian dishes lies in cooking the vegetables separately, combining only at the last. That way you get the individual characteristics of each one. To avoid the oily issue of the aubergine, I cooked it at a fairly high heat, stir fry style. I used the same pan for every stage, but set each cooked veg to one side while preparing the next.

Ingredients

2 aubergines, peeled and cut into dice about 1 - 2 cm; 2 red or yellow peppers, deseeded and diced; 2 - 3 stalks celery, skinned and finely sliced; 1 onion, finely sliced; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1 tbsp capers in brine; 1 tin tomatoes; 1 - 2 tsp sugar; 1 tbsp wine vinegar; olive oil and butter for cooking; salt.

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Cook the aubergine in olive oil over a fairly high heat, stirring regularly until soft. Remove to a separate bowl. In the same pan, sauté the pepper until soft. You will need more oil. Add to the aubergines on the side. Gently soften the celery in a mixture of butter and oil. Set to one side with the other cooked veg.

Finally, fry the onion with the garlic, again until soft. Then add the tomatoes and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the sugar and vinegar, and salt to taste. Chuck all the other veg back into the pan and stir in the capers. Cook for about five minutes to let the flavours mix. Check the seasoning and serve.

Actually you can eat this hot or cold. And it will be better on day 2.