Sicilian Caponata

 Mediterranean food has always hailed health benefits that range from preventing heart disease and strokes to keeping you agile and increasing longevity. Sardinia, Italy, is a hotbed for centenarians and in a population of 10,000, there are 21 centenarians. If you compare that to the United States, we have about 4 centenarians per 10,000 people. Although there are many factors that play a role in whether someone reaches the 100-year mark, diet plays a major factor. While reading about the health benefits of eggplant, from reducing the risk of heart disease to helping control blood sugar, I remembered my favorite Sicilian recipe, Caponata. This is a well-known recipe with Sicilian Americans but not so much our general population. I hope you have fun making this as much as I did...put lots of love into it and it will taste absolutely delicious on top of whole wheat pasta or crusty Italian or French bread!

Ingredients:

Olive oil

2 eggplants, cubed

4-5 stalks celery chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

1 - 10-ounce jar Italian cracked olives (drained and rinsed), chopped

1 tbs sugar

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

1 -12 ounce can Contadina tomato paste

24 ounces (2 cans) water

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Boil chopped celery until soft and set aside. Put 2-3 tbs of olive oil in a pan and fry the eggplant. If the pan gets dry, add more olive oil/water to the eggplant in the pan. Cook thoroughly until browned. In a pot, put 2-3 tbs olive oil and fry the onion. Add tomato paste and 2 cans water. Bring onion, tomato paste, and water mixture to a boil. Add boiled celery and browned eggplant to the onion, tomato paste, and water mixture. Then, add the remaining ingredients and simmer the mixture in a pot for 30 minutes.

Serve over pasta or with crusty Italian or French bread! Enjoy!