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Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.
Even though I make it often, I ordered caponata at an Italian restaurant recently just to try someone else’s version. When the server brought out the bowl of roasted eggplant flecked with a few pieces of roasted red pepper, I thought it might be a mistake. I didn’t see the olives, celery, tomato, or capers that the Sicilian classic requires, but when I took a bite, I didn’t care. The silky eggplant and soft peppers, flavored with the sweet and sour of what the Italians call agrodolce, was perfect. It wasn’t caponata, but I didn’t care.
To re-create the dish at home, I used the long eggplants sometimes called Japanese. When they’re fresh, the long ones have fewer seeds than the fat globe varieties, so the texture is more consistent after roasting. Long eggplant can be hard to find, but late summer farmers markets or Asian grocery stores usually have some. If you can’t find any, globe eggplant is fine. And don’t fret over ingredient quantities; you can make this with any number of eggplants and peppers and it will still be delicious.
Recipe
2–3 long, Japanese-style eggplants
1–2 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon kosher-style sea salt, plus more to taste if needed
3–4 sprigs fresh mint, optional
Roast the eggplant and red bell peppers at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the eggplant is very soft to the touch and has started to collapse, and the bell peppers have started to turn brown. The eggplant may be done before the peppers, but just leave them in a bit longer.
(Roasted pepper tip: Look for evenly shaped peppers with well-defined shoulders at the stem end, then trim the stems close so the peppers can stand up on the stem end while they roast.)
When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and carefully remove the skin so the flesh remains mostly intact (don’t sweat it if it breaks up, it’ll still taste great). Cut the long pieces of the roasted eggplant into bite-sized pieces. Use your fingers to peel the thin outer skin from the peppers (while it’s kitchen canon that you put roasted peppers in a bag to “sweat” so the skins come off easier, it really isn’t necessary). Discard the skins and seed core (a few seeds are fine), then cut the peppers into similar bite-sized pieces.
Dissolve the salt and sugar in the vinegar, then stir in the olive oil. Combine the dressing with roasted vegetables, pick the leaves from the mint (if they’re big, chop slightly, otherwise leave them whole), and toss everything. Best slightly chilled or at room temperature.
