Cook the eggplant and celery separately before combining them with the onion mixture. Dry the eggplant thoroughly before frying.
Make ahead You can prepare the caponata ahead. Refrigerate it promptly in shallow, covered containers and use within 4 days.
Caponata
Serves 4 · Difficulty Medium
Method
Put the eggplant cubes in a colander, sprinkle with coarse salt and leave for at least 1 hour. Drain and dry the cubes thoroughly.
Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the diced celery and cook for 5 minutes, then drain and dry on a clean towel.
Heat 20 g of the extra virgin olive oil in a wide pan. Add the chopped onions and cook until softened. Add the capers, green olives and pine nuts, then cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Stir the diced tomatoes into the onion mixture. Cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring as needed, until the tomatoes soften and the mixture comes together.
Heat the remaining 20 g of extra virgin olive oil in a separate pan and sauté the drained celery.
Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan. Fry the dried eggplant in batches until tender and golden, then drain. Add the eggplant and celery to the onion mixture and stir over medium heat for 3–4 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar and let the sharp aroma of the vinegar subside. Turn off the heat and finish with the basil leaves.
Kitchen notes
Finish with vinegar and sugar. Add the vinegar and sugar after the vegetables have cooked together, then let the sharp vinegar aroma subside before turning off the heat.
Cook the vegetables separately. Fry and drain the eggplant. Blanch the celery, then sauté it separately before adding both vegetables to the onion mixture.
Basil at the end. Finish the caponata with basil after turning off the heat.
