I had forgotten all about caponata, an aubergine and celery stew from Sicily usually served as an antipasto, until a contestant on Masterchef prepared it. High time for a revival! I have a funny little book, Eating in Sicily, which is always worth consulting and both Anna del Conte in Italian Kitchen and Claudia Roden in The Food of Italy give very similar recipes.

Anna del Conte calls caponata ‘one of the grandest vegetable dishes’ and points out that it can be served with octopus, a small lobster, prawns, hard boiled eggs or even bottarga a specialty of mullet roe from Sardinia. Cold meats can also be served with caponata Of course, there are variations even within Sicily; pine nuts and raisins are a common addition.

As with ratatouille, there is no quick fix; the vegetables must be cooked separately and with care.

2 – 3 aubergines (700g)
Vegetable oil for frying
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Inner sticks of 1 celery, head and coarse threads removed
1 onion, finely sliced
75ml olive oil
5 or 6 plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or a 225g can of peeled tomatoes)
1 tbsp sugar
90ml white (or red) wine vinegar
1 tbsp bitter cocoa
60g capers
60g large green olives, stoned and quartered

Cut aubergine slices into quarters and, unless very fresh, salt them for at least an hour to remove the bitter juices and then rinse and pat them dry on kitchen paper.

In batches, fry the aubergine in a generous amount of vegetable oil in a frying pan until golden brown on all sides. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Cut the celery into pieces about 3 cm long and fry these in the same oil until golden and crisp. Again, drain on kitchen paper

Clean the frying pan and pour in the olive oil. Add the onion slices and fry these gently for about 10 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes and season. Cook over a moderate heat for about 15 minutes.

While the sauce is cooking, heat the sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan. Add the cocoa, capers, and olives. Cook gently until the cocoa is absorbed. Add to the tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes before adding the aubergines and celery. Cook gently for 20 minutes with the lid on, stirring from time to time. Check the seasoning before turning the stew into a serving dish..

Caponata is served at room temperature and should be made at least a day in advance of serving. It looks brilliant served in a deep dish, garnished with basil leaves or chopped roasted almonds and parsley. Anna del Conte serves it decorated with hard boiled eggs pushed through a sieve. This works very well.