Mom’s Caponata (Eggplant Salad)

Use a peeler to remove the skin from the tomatoes. For each tomato, cut a circle around the core to remove it, then cut the tomato in half. Cut each half in half again. Squeeze the tomato quarters gently to loosen the seeds and scrape them out with a knife. Squeeze out the liquid from the tomato pieces and set them in a drainer. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding to the caponata.

Chop the onion and garlic. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook them until they are soft.

While the onions and garlic are cooking, prepare the eggplant. Peel off the skin. Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut in half again lengthwise. Slice the eggplant horizontally into cubes about 1.5 inches thick.

Add the eggplant cubes to the pan and stir them in with the onions and garlic. Cook for about 6 minutes. Add basil, black pepper and lightly salt the eggplants. (The olives added later will be salty so don’t add much salt.)

Add the tomatoes and vinegar to the pan and stir briefly. Put the heat on medium and cook for 15 minutes uncovered, stirring periodically as needed to prevent sticking.

While the caponata is cooking, drain the olives and dry them on paper towels. When the caponata is finished cooking, remove the pan from the heat. Add the olives and sugar to the caponata. Stir to combine.

Place the caponata in a serving bowl, cover it and refrigerate it, ideally overnight. Before serving, stir the caponata and taste it to see if it needs more salt, pepper or sugar. Be sure to try it with the olives, which will add a salty flavor.

Serve cold or room temperature as a side dish, as lunch with a chunk of Italian bread, or on crostini for an appetizer.