Sicilian Caponata

Caponata, a sweet-and-sour eggplant dish from Sicily, gets its distinctive flavor from a blending of the island's Mediterranean and North African influences. We batch-cook the eggplant, zucchini and onion plus bell pepper to better preserve each vegetable's character. This keeps the caponata bright and full of texture rather than stewy and one-dimensional. A tangy-sweet vinegar-sugar glaze, added at the end of cooking, brings the elements together. If your palate prefers a sweeter caponata, stir in additional sugar when seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature with crusty bread as an appetizer or as a side to grilled or roasted meats and seafood.