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casarecce pasta caponata
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5 from 30 votes

Casarecce Pasta Caponata Recipe from Sicily

Caponata is a traditional vegetarian/vegan Sicilian dish made with typical Mediterranean veggies. It's great on it's own or served with pasta either warm or as a pasta salad.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course, pasta salad
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, Sicilian, Southern Italian
Keyword: caponata, casarecce, eggplant, pasta salad, vegan pasta, vegetarian
Servings: 4
Calories: 613kcal
Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

  • 400 g casarecce pasta (14oz) or other short pasta
  • 2-3 small eggplants cut into cubes
  • 2-3 sweet peppers I used red and yellow
  • 3 celery stalks washed and chopped
  • 2 red onions (you can also use white onions) peeled and chopped
  • 200 g green olives (7oz) pitted and cut in half
  • 100 g capers (3.5oz) I used rinsed salted ones
  • 4 sauce tomatoes peeled and chopped
  • 400 g tomato pulp (14oz) Use less if making caponata without pasta
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • glass white wine vinegar
  • extra virgin olive oil. as required
  • salt for pasta and to taste
  • fresh basil leaves as required

Instructions

Prepare the eggplant.

  • Cut the eggplant into cubes with the skin. Place in a colander and cover with about 3-4 handfuls of sea salt. Leave for 30-60 minutes then rinse well and pat dry with kitchen paper or tea towel.

Prepare the other ingredients.

  • Peel and roughly chop the onion. Remove most the strings from the celery. Then wash and cut it into small chunks. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water. Then peel them and cut into pieces. Rinse the capers well if using salted ones. Cut the pitted green olives in half or thirds (depending the size). Wash and then cut off the stem of the sweet peppers. Cut them in half and then remove any pith and seeds inside. Then cut into small rectangular pieces.

Cook the egg plant.

  • Fry the eggplant in hot olive oil until the pieces have browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper or in a bowl. Set aside.

Cook the caponata.

  • If there’s too much oil in the pan where you fried the eggplant remove some. You only need about 3-4 tbsps to fry the other ingredients. Sauté the red pepper pieces until they start to soften slightly. Add the onions and continue cooking for a minute or two. Then add the celery. If necessary add more olive oil. You don’t want the veggies to burn. After 5 minutes add the tomato pieces and continue to cook on a medium heat. Then add the tomato paste and tomato pulp. Continue cooking on a medium heat. Now add the capers and olives. Let the sauce simmer and reduce for 10 minutes.

Cook the pasta.

  • In the meantime put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.  Save a cup of the pasta cooking water before draining the pasta.

Finish the caponata and serve.

  • Once your caponata is nearly ready put back the eggplant and add the vinegar and sugar and turn up the heat a little. Stir well to blend the flavours. Simmer for another 5 minutes then add the cooked pasta to the sauce and mix well. If some reason your sauce seems dry, add a little of the saved pasta cooking water and mix again. Serve immediately with fresh basil or allow to cool and serve as a pasta salad at room temperature.

Notes

Caponata tastes even better the next day, so you can make it in advance. The pasta salad also tastes great the next day and can be made the day before. I keep it in the fridge and then either zap in the microwave or allow it to come to room temperature before serving. The same goes for leftovers.
This recipe can also be made with homemade casarecce

Nutrition

Calories: 613kcal | Carbohydrates: 116g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 1554mg | Potassium: 1490mg | Fiber: 17g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 2734IU | Vitamin C: 98mg | Calcium: 122mg | Iron: 5mg