Maggie Beer's Caponata

"Maggie is a well known Australian cook based in the Barossa. This recipe is notable for the inclusion of chocolate."
 
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Ready In:
35mins
Ingredients:
13
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Sauté the onion and celery in a frying pan with a splash of olive oil until the onion colours a little and the celery retains a crunchy firmness.
  • Add the sugar and mix well to combine, deglaze with the vinegar and continue to cook until a little syrupy. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  • Add a good splash of extra virgin olive oil (evoo) to the pan, and fry off the eggplant (you may need to do this in batches if your pan isn’t big enough) adding a little more oil if needed and a little salt.
  • When the eggplant is almost cooked all the way through with a rich golden colour, add the diced tomatoes. Reduce the heat and continue to cook until the tomato has softened a little.
  • Add the onion and celery mixture along with all the liquid back into the pan with the eggplant. Mix well and then add the olives, capers, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  • While the mixture is still warm, add the chocolate so that it melts and stir in gently. Then add the basil and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
  • Serve!

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Reviews

  1. I was going to post this recipe myself, now that I have found it already here I will rate it instead. This Maggie Beer recipe is spot on - just the right amount of sweet and sour. All my dinner guests loved it. I can see it will be a hit as "nibbles" at barbies over Summer
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm an ex-pat NZer living in the tropical Top End of Australia. Which makes it a perfect place to make homemade bread and summer recipes all year around. I experiment on my 3 kids who have grown up trying new Zaar recipes every other day and they are thriving. I'm the lacto-ovo vegetarian in the family and somehow I got roped in to become a Forum Host here at Zaar. So check out the Vegetarian and Vegan Forum http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=43 and feel free to join in whether you are a fully fledged vegan or someone who needs to cater for a vegetarian and has no idea where to start. Every year I try to do something a bit different to push the envelope a little bit. In 2005 I learned how to sail a dinghy; 2006's grand passion is mosaics. Check out my blog! Between raising three children, working almost fulltime and trying to pursue my hobbies...let's say that my time management skills have greatly improved over the years! I am also very interested in living a sustainable lifestyle. Essentially I'm finding that I'm getting back to the country lifestyle I enjoyed in my childhood even though these days I live in themiddle of suburbia. To this end I have started gardening although I am a total gardening virgin when it comes to gardening in a tropical climate. I also have a cookbook with a number of recipes you can make from scratch. Living clean and green is good for you AND cheaper!
 
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