Sicilian Caponata with Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

This is one of the meals I come back to time and time again to make for my family. It is one of the meals that they also suggest I make when I offer to cook the evening meal. I keep telling them it’s so simple and there’s really nothing to it but still they insist it’s an “Amy Special” and I’m happy to indulge them.

Sicilian Caponata with Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

Inspired by my time in Italy and like much Italian cooking, this recipe celebrates fresh, wholesome and simple ingredients done in a way that makes them sing. Ordinary, everyday vegetables are turned into a beautifully rich Sicilian Caponata that will fool you into thinking you’re eating al fresco in sunny Sicily. It’s a beautiful meal to share with friends and family, vegans and non-vegans, as this dish is comforting, warming and filling. It will satiate even the hungriest of meat eaters thanks to the delicious rosemary roasted potatoes. That said, we also love to enjoy this recipe served with hunks of crusty bread, spooned over pasta as a veggie-packed sauce or to stuff a jacket potato. Serve it however you like, but I hope you’ll love it as much as we do.
The flavours are kept very simple: rich tomato passata, salt, black pepper, a dash of balsamic vinegar for a tangy depth, a squeeze of coconut honey to balance out the acidity and a little bit of harissa – but this isn’t hot at all. The main flavours come from the finely chopped capers and olives that melt into the sauce – which we all love! The saltiness from both Italian ingredients adds such a wonderful flavour while the raisins slowly plump up absorbing all the flavours and the liquid. They really melt in your mouth when you get one.

Sicilian Caponata with Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

Sicilian Caponata with Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

For maximum flavour I like to cook this in the morning, let all the flavours sit throughout the day and warm back through in the evening. It’s amazing how much the Sicilian Caponata intensifies and how gorgeously soft the vegetables become. This recipe makes for delicious leftovers, too, and is very freezer-friendly. So, make extras to enjoy for weeks after.
Buon appetito!

Sicilian Caponata

• Servings: 3-4
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy
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Rich and thick tomato-based stew filled with lots of hearty vegetables, capers and olives for a truly warming Italian inspired meal. Best served with Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 small white onion, small dice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 courgette, in ¼ moons
• 1 red or yellow pepper, small dice
• 1 aubergine, small dice
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp harissa
• 500g passata
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp coconut sugar
• 2 tbsp capers, chopped small
• 40g olives, chopped small
• 1 large handful raisins
• Serving suggestions: rosemary roasted new potatoes, pasta rice, torn basil, pine nuts, avocado cubes

Directions

1. Prepare all the vegetables.
2. Heat a good drizzle of good olive oil in a large saucepan and fry off the onion until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Add in garlic, courgette, pepper, and aubergine and fry for a further 10 minutes.
4. Now add the harissa and stir to coat. Pour in the passata, vinegar, honey, capers, olives and raisins. Stir well, bring to the boil them simmer for 40 minutes, with a lid ajar to reduce and thicken. Stir occasionally. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
5. Serve scattered with fresh basil and desired accompaniments. I love serving mine with roasted new potatoes with rosemary and olive oil, topped with pine nuts, torn basil and avocado cubes.

Sicilian Caponata with Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

Rosemary Roasted New Potatoes

• Servings: 3-4
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Soft and fluffy in the middle with a crisp outside, flavoured with warming rosemary and black pepper.

Ingredients

• 400g new potatoes, halved
• 2 white onions, chopped into chunks
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• Olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190Fan/210*C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Tumble the potatoes and white onion into the tray, sprinkle over the rosemary, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Toss to coat all the vegetables then roast in the oven for about an hour, turning over every so often.
3. Serve warm as a side dish, or on their own as a snack!

Let’s get social! I would love to hear what you think of my Sicilian Caponata with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and perhaps it will become one of your family favourites? Please leave your comments below and tag me in your creations – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy so I can see them. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest of you feel like being sociable.
With Italian love x