Sicilian Caponata
with Pine Nuts and Garlic Ciabatta
Sicily, ‘The Old Country’, the birthplace of Vito Corleone and home to one of our favourite Italian dishes: Caponata. Patrick learned how to make this dish whilst filming in the beautiful coastal town of Catania and (in a fairly risky move) has decided to recreate it with a few of his own flavours.Italians are fiercely protective of their recipes so, for his sake, let’s keep this one under our hats. Buon Appetito!
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
1
Bell Pepper
25
Pine Nuts
1
Ciabatta
30
Black Olives
2
Aubergine
(May contain Celery)
1
Tomato Passata
2
Garlic Clove
60
Mature Cheddar Cheese
(Contains Milk)
1
Dried Oregano
1
Red Onion
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 220°C. Remove the stalk top from the aubergine and cut in half lengthways, then slice each half into five strips. Chop the aubergine into 2cm cubes and place on a baking tray. Use your hands to coat the aubergine in a splash of oil and roast on the top shelf of your oven for 15 mins, or until a little crispy around the edges.
Halve, peel and thinly slice the red onion. Peel and grate all but one of the garlic cloves (or use a garlic press). Halve, then remove the core from the red pepper and chop into 2cm chunks. Roughly chop the olives.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan on medium heat until nicely golden, 2 mins. Keep an eye on them as they will burn quickly! Remove from the heat and tip into a bowl, keep to one side.
Heat a splash of oil in the same frying pan you used for the pine nuts (still on medium heat). Add the onion and pepper. Cook until soft, 6-7 mins. Add the garlic, olives and oregano, cook for 1 minute more. Tip in the passata and add a splash of water. Add a pinch of sugar (if you have some) and leave to thicken for 10-15 mins – add a bit more water if it starts to look too dry! Stir in the aubergine when it is cooked.
Turn your grill to high. Cut the ciabatta in half and toast on each side under your grill. Meanwhile, grate the cheese. Once the ciabatta is toasted, cut the remaining garlic in half. Rub the garlic across the top of the ciabatta and top each half with some cheese. Put back under your grill until golden and bubbly, 2 mins
Once the caponata has thickened, serve with the pine nuts on top. It can be eaten with cutlery, or using the ciabatta as a small edible shovel!
