Caponatarama- Updated below!

Sicilian Caponata on Crostini

Another of my edible favorites is the italian Caponata dish that my mother-in-law makes as an appetizer or a side dish.  She was kind enough to share the recipe with me, and now I share it with you.

Caponata can be served either hot or cold, and either by itself or on a crostini (see crostini recipe below).  I find the caponata tastes best when marinating and blending flavors in the fridge for a few days, so I end up serving it cool, sometimes on crostini but mostly just shoveled into my mouth with a giant sigh of happiness.

Sicilian Caponata

 Ingredients:

1   eggplant

1/2 cup olive oil

1   onion, sliced

2   sweet red peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

2   sticks celery, sliced thickly

1 lb canned plum tomatoes

2  tablespoons red wine vinegar

1   tablespoon sugar

1   clove garlic, crushed

12 jumbo stuffed green olives

12 jumbo black olives, pitted

2   tablespoons capers (reserve liquid)

ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the eggplant in half and score the cut surface.

2. Sprinkle with salt and leave to drain in a colander or on paper towels for 1 hour. ***See note below***

3. Rinse, pat dry and cut into 1 inch cubes.

4. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and add the onion, peppers and celery.  Lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the eggplant and cook a further 5 minutes.

5. Cut the tomatoes open and remove the seeds.  Dice the tomatoes and add the flesh and the pulp and liquid from the can to the vegetables in the sauté pan.

6. Add the remaining ingredients except the olives and capers and cook for a further 2 minutes.

7. Slice the green olives into four equal slices perpendicular to the pimento and the cut the black olives in quarters and add to the vegetables with the capers.

8. Simmer, uncovered, over moderate heat for about 7 minutes to evaporate most of the liquid.  (Make sure not to overcook, you still want the eggplant to have a shape and not be mush.)  Adjust the seasoning, adding liquid from capers to salt.  Mix in approximately 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper or to taste.  

9. Serve hot or cold.  Again, I will strongly advise you to let this at least sit overnight.  The blending of flavors makes this dish sing, and by eating this right away, you will lose that savory flavor.  Each day it sits and blends, it gets more flavorful, however getting this to last more than a day or two is a challenge.

Serves 6

***Note:  When salting the eggplant, I place two heavy plates on the backs of the halves, and put the eggplant face down onto some paper towels so the liquid is forced out.  I let them sit for about an hour, which you can use as time to prep your other ingredients.  After an hour, I rinse the salt from the top of the eggplant with a little water and pat dry, pressing gently down on the meat of the eggplant as I dry to remove any excess water still inside.  This removes any bitterness from the eggplant.  As eggplants age and grow big, the water inside is what makes the eggplant bitter.  It is not necessary to salt small eggplants such as the Japanese eggplant as they are not bitter and do not require the moisture to be removed.

Crostini Recipe 
 
Simply bake 12 half-inch slices of ciabatta, rub them with a cut clove of garlic, drizzle it with olive oil, and season it with salt and pepper. 

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of ciabatta bread, cut into 1/2- inch slices
• good quality, extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large clove of garlic, peeled and cut in half
• salt and ground black pepper

 Directions

Toast your slices of ciabatta in a 400-degree oven for 7-12 minutes or until golden brown, or use a grill until golden brown. While they’re still hot, rub them gently with the cut side of the garlic, just two swipes of a garlic clove over the top of each crostini, drizzle with good-quality extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.  Finish with a scoop of caponata or your favorite topping.

***UPDATE:  I have submitted this recipe as October's YBR submission.  For more information of what YBR is, click on the button below which will take you to Spicie Foodie's site:

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Snausages!

This recipe for Sausage and Peppers came from my Mother-in-Law.  For years, only my husband could replicate the delicious meal in our home, but I have now mastered the art of this amazing dish.  Here is the recipe:

Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:

·      6 Premio brand sweet sausages

·         6 Premio brand hot sausages

·         

·      2 Tbsp and 2 tsp olive oil

·         2 jars Victoria Fra Diavlo sauce

·     

·       1 box Ronzoni thin spaghetti

·         1 large yellow onion- chopped (1 inch pieces)

·         2 large green peppers- chopped (1 inch pieces)

·         Grated Parmesan cheese to garnish (Most times I don’t use it, dish doesn’t need it)

Tools:

·         Large sauté pan with cover

·         Stock pot and strainer for pasta

·         Large Tongs

·         Paring knife

·         Cutting board

·         Large baking dish (9 x13 Pyrex dish or I love my Dansk 13.25” Paella Pan)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425° F

2.  Cook pasta for 1 minute less than the minimum time on the box’s cooking directions.  

3.  While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large sauté pan to medium high (electric stove is between 7 and 8).

4.  Right before smoking temp is reached, place sausages in the pan. Brown the sausages on three sides for about 2 minutes or so per side or until slightly darker than golden brown.  They brown fast so keep an eye on them.

5.  When browning the fourth side, add the slices of onion and green pepper, so they are on top of the sausages, and turn the heat down to medium, (electric stove between 5 and 6).

6.  Cover and let the onions and peppers soften, approximately 10 minutes.  (I usually go by the color of the green pepper.  When it turns a soft green, it’s done.)

7.  Pour 1 full jar of the Victoria’s Fra Diavlo sauce into the baking dish.

8.  When pasta is fully cooked, strain and add the pasta to baking dish and mix with the uncooked sauce in the pan.

9.  Once the sausages, peppers and onions are done, place the sausages on top of the pasta, nestling the sausages just slightly into the pasta as you place them.

10.  Top with peppers and onions, making sure to keep as much of the fat in the pan out of the baking dish.

11.  Top with remaining jar of Fra Diavlo sauce.

12.  Bake in middle of oven at 425 ° F for 35 minutes.  (The temp seems high, but it is vital to make the most flavorful dish, where the flavors are blended all the way through, and some pasta crisps along the edge which is a treat if you are lucky enough to get some on your plate.  I have tested many different temps and 425 degrees Fahrenheit is the best choice by far.)

This is the finished product:

You can add some grated Parmesan cheese to the plated meal if you prefer, but it really doesn't need it.  This dish is so easy I make it during weeknights with no problems whatsoever.  It also makes a ton, so you can eat it for lunches or for dinner again the next night.  Mangia!
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Dinner in 30

I love to cook, it isn't a secret anymore since this blog has gone public.  However, there are many nights where the thought of cooking makes my toes curl.  These are the nights where I pull out supermarket splendors like Gorton's Fish and Ragu sauce to make a filling meal that I find oh-so-comfy.



Step 1: Preheat oven according to box directions for the frozen fish of your choice.  At the same time, boil a large pot of water with a bit of olive oil in it.

Step 2:  Put 1 jar of your favorite sauce (I use Ragu Traditional) in a large sauce pan.  Add approximately 1 Tbsp of dried basil, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Add approximately 2 Tbsp garlic powder and about 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.  Cook on medium high until bubbling and take off heat.





Step 3:  Start fish cooking in oven.  I prefer Gorton's battered fish fillets, which take 12 minutes on each side at 425 degrees F, totalling a 24 minute cook time.


Step 4:  When the water is boiling, place pasta in the water, and boil for one minute less than the lowest cooking time on the box.  I tend to use Ronzoni's Thin Spaghetti, which lists a 9-11 minute cook time.  I would cook the pasta for 8 minutes and strain but not rinse.




Step 5:  When the pasta is finished cooking and has been strained, place the sauce back on a low heat setting and add all the pasta and 4 Tbsp of the pasta cooking water and mix it all well.*  This adds the starch to the water and creates a nice consistency in the sauce.  Cook the pasta and sauce together on low heat for about two minutes, until heated through and combined nicely.







 *note: I like to use cooking tongs instead of a spoon to mix the pasta. I find I have much more control over the pasta and it ends in much less sauce splatter.








Step 6:  At this point the fish should be finished and ready to be plated.  The fish is cooked when the outside is golden brown on both sides.   Now it is time to plate.











Step 7:  Plate your food.  I like to add a bit of parmesan cheese on top of the pasta.  I also heat a can of green beans in the micro, but choose a veg of your choice.  You might prefer a fresh crisp salad on a hot summer night, or perhaps you have a bag of frozen veg in the freezer that needs a bit of steaming in the microwave or over a pot of hot water.  If you prefer fresh vegetables, you can quickly steam some asparagus or green beans or broccoli etc over a pot of boiling water.  All choices take about 5 minutes.


For dessert I like to cut up some fresh fruit.  Tonight I chose to cut up some canteloupe as they have been really sweet lately and I couldn't resist as I them by in the produce section.

So, dinner in 30, and you didn't have to cut anything (well I cut canteloupe but if you really must avoid a knife at all costs, have a summer peach.)  Better yet, you didn't have to partake of the fast food craze that has become the Nouveau American Cuisine.  You will still have preservatives in your food because you are using canned sauce and frozen fish, but if you think ahead, you can have jarred homeade sauce on hand for nights such as these, and if you have a fish market by you, they often sell pre-breaded fish for your baking pleasure.  Unfortunately, I haven't started canning as of yet, but I will as soon as I start my garden.  Apartment living isn't conducive to gardening.  I know, I know, stop the excuses.  Well, at least I stopped the drive-throughs.
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Magical Mushrooms

I had no idea I was missing out on these little fungi friends until I visited Manu's Menu.  Her Pappardelle with porcini mushrooms has such vibrant flavor and yet it takes less than 30 minutes to prep (there really is no prep) and cook.  The only kicker is finding fresh or frozen Porcinis is next to impossible, however dried Porcinis seem to be much easier to obtain.  When it came time to add the mushrooms I added a splash of warm water to moisten them and this worked just fine.  If you want to mail order fresh or frozen Porcinis there are two sites I found (see below) and both have ringing endorsements from many trusted sites I visit.  This dish is now a dinner staple in our house and I bet you will soon be saying the same.

Domestic Porcinis
Market of Delicacies- Frozen
Market of Delicacies- Fresh
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