Italian Caponata- K’s Special

This post is by: Kay (my lovely wife and writer for K’s Kitchen!)

I apologize for taking a break from K’s kitchen for sometime…I thought that I’d have a lot of time during the summer but my work kept me busy until we left for 9 Day Balkans Road Trip. The good news is that we had a great harvest of tomatoes, basil, Sri Lankan chili, and thyme in our small garden on the balcony. We were indeed busy watering and taking care of the plants every morning before we went to work, but our effort really paid off!! Today, I’d like to introduce you to Caponata- K’s Special. This dish is one of my favorites because it’s healthy and remains tasty for a couple of days.

Yummmm...fresh vegetables soaked in delicious juices.

Ingredients (for 3-4 people)

Onions: One big size or two medium size-chopped to 1cm pieces

Paprika: 3 Red and 2 Yellow (if you use a regular big paprika, you can use 1 Red and 1 Yellow) cut into the size of a thumb

Egg Plant: 3 medium size or 1 big size- slice them in 5-8mm width (if they are big, please cut them in half)

Fresh tomatoes straight from our beer...I mean, balcony garden

Tomatoes: 2 large tomatoes diced

Zucchini: 1 medium size- sliced 5-8mm width

Garlic: 2 cloves- sliced

Chili: 1 small Sri Lankan chili (or any other kind, or without if you don’t like spicy food)- finely chopped

Basil: 4-5 fresh leaves (if you don’t have fresh ones, you can substitute with the dried basil)- chopped

Thyme: 1/4 of handful (if you don’t have fresh ones, you can substitute with the dried thyme)

Olive oil: 2-3 Tablespoons

Bay leaf: 2-3 leaves

Salt and pepper

How to cook (cooking/preparation time: 30 min)

We grew thyme as well

(1)  Cut all the vegetables mentioned above

(2)  Fry garlic and onions with 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil until they are cooked and browned.

(3)  Add egg plant, paprika and zucchini and fry them until they are soft and cooked.

(4)  Add tomatoes and sauté all the vegetables until tomatoes have cooked and the juice comes out.

(5)  Season with salt and pepper, and put thyme, bay leaf and basil and cook for another 5 minutes,

(6)  Serve on a dish and garnish with some Basil leaves.

Personally, I like eating Caponata a day after cooking. The flavors soak into the vegetables and the dish tastes better. Please try eating the day after cooking. You will notice the difference

I’m not sure if this is a proper way, but I keep Caponata in the fridge and eat with Cous Cous as a nice cool dish.

Was that easy? Delicious? Tell us how tasty it was, or how it all went horribly, horribly wrong