Name: Swordfish Caponata
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 4 eggplants; 400 gms – 1 lb. swordfish; 15 green olives (pitted and halved); 2 tbsp capers (rinsed); 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 140 gms – 5 oz. concentrated tomato paste; 2 big onions (chopped); 3 celery stalks (chopped); 150 ml – 5 oz. red wine vinegar; 1 tbsp sugar; Salt to taste

Today’s recipe is a variation of one of the most popular Sicilian dishes: Caponata (click here for the recipe I shared a while ago). This Swordfish Caponata has all the ingredients of the original dish – including eggplant, olives and capers, plus swordfish. Caponata could be described as a cooked salad made up of fried eggplant and other ingredients. Today’s version is as well a sweet and sour dish and it is the perfect appetiser or main dish idea. We usually eat it in summer and it is best served at room temperature or even cold. Make sure to serve it with some warm bread like my Ciabatta or, even better, with traditional Sicilian bread known as Cabbuci. The combination is to die for, believe me! Enjoy!

Swordfish Caponata

Swordfish Caponata - just like the traditional Sicilian Caponata, plus the swordfish. A delicious sweet and sour dish perfect for any occasion.

Course Main

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

4 eggplants
400 gms – 1 lb. swordfish
15 green olives pitted and halved
2 tbsp capers rinsed
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
140 gms – 5 oz. concentrated tomato paste
2 big onions chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
150 ml – 5 oz. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste

Instructions

Cut the eggplant and swordfish in cubes (3×3 cm – 1.2×1.2 inches).
Put the cubed eggplant in a bowl with cold salty water for half an hour. Then, pat them dry and deep fry them in hot vegetable oil. When ready, put them in a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.
Blanch the chopped celery in salty boiling water. Keep aside.
Chop the onion, put it in a frying pan and cover it with 1/2 glass of water and cook it until the water dries up. Then add 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the onions in it for a minute or 2.
Add the cubed swordfish and brown it well.
Add the tomato concentrate, capers, olives and blanched celery with a little of its reserved cooking water and cook for 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked.
Add the fried eggplant cubes and mix gently.
Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and add it to the caponata. Cook it for a few minutes on a medium-high flame, then put the fire off and let it cool down.
Enjoy with some warm cabbuci!

Recipe Notes

This Swordfish Caponata is best eaten at room temperature or cold, and it tastes even better the next day.

Swordfish Caponata