Thanks to everyone for the input on honey. I return the favor including a personal recipe below.
Caponata is a traditional Sicilian dish, one of my favorites. This version is a personalized one, made with trial and error out of culinary experimentation and following my personal taste - that’s why I call it “wrong” (the traditional caponata has for example salted capers and separate vinegar, optional almonds, green olives instead of black, and no marinated sundried tomatoes).
Hope you enjoy it!
CAPONATA SBAGLIATA (“Wrong Caponata”)
Ingredients
olive oil
2 large eggplants, cut into large cubes
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and ground black pepper
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons capers preserved in vinegar
a handful of black pitted olives
5 large tomatoes, skin removed, chopped OR two cans of diced tomatoes
3 or 4 sundried tomatoes, marinated in olive oil and chili pepper
Preparation
If you can’t find marinated sundried tomatoes (there is an Italian lady in Zurich who has a small store on Josefstrasse and sells them, but if she runs out I make my own) you can: put the sundried tomatoes in warm water for 15-20 minutes or until they “revive”. Prepare a mixture with olive oil and very finely chopped chili pepper (if you have small dried pieces that’s also ok), then put the sundried tomatoes in a plastic ziploc bag with this mixture and let them marinate for a few hours until the tomatoes really absorb the flavor. I typically do this the night before, or early in the morning before going to work if I plan to cook it in the evening. While this ingredient is not essential per se, it gives the dish a nice kick.
After cutting the eggplants, place them in a colander and sprinkle them with salt, taking care that all the pieces are covered by a bit of salt, then let them rest for at least a half hour – this process ensures that the extra water is taken out from the eggplant, and you won’t have a “watery” dish.
In a large pan, pour in the olive oil, the eggplants and oregano, salt and pepper, and cook on high heat for a round 5 minutes, shaking the pan to make sure that all chunks of eggplants are evenly cooking (sometimes, if the pan is not big enough, you can split the eggplant cooking in 2 or 3 batches). Don’t overfill that pan, otherwise you won’t be able to obtain an even cooking!
When the eggplants are golden on all sides, add the chopped onion, garlic, and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes until the onion and garlic are golden as well. Then add the marinated sundried tomatoes with their oil, and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes. The sundried tomatoes should be soft and juicy. Throw in the capers and the olives, stir evenly, then add the chopped or canned tomatoes* and simmer for around 15 minutes or until tender. Tip: to remove the acids from the tomatoes, add a pinch of sugar in the pan, stir very well, then taste and adjust with salt/pepper as desired.
Once ready, season as you wish and serve. This dish is good both served hot and cold, by itself, with bread, on top of pasta, etc.
Bon appétit!
*Side note: I prefer canned tomatoes, because they’re much easier to work with, unless I have very good fresh tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes: to remove the skin, make a vertical cut on it, put the tomatoes in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, take them out and the skin should be very easy to remove. Careful, because the tomatoes will be very hot. Once they have cooled a bit, they should be chopped and the inside seeds/excess water removed.