Tag: Antipasto

CAPONATA DI NATALE (Christmas, winter caponata made with celery, almonds and sultanas)

Caponata di Natale is a traditional Sicilian Christmas caponata that surprises many people familiar only with the more common eggplant version.

In Sicily, caponata exists in many forms, and not all caponate contain eggplants.

This festive caponata reflects the season in which it is served. While eggplants and peppers are abundant during the Sicilian summer, they are not winter vegetables. For Christmas, some Sicilians prepare a caponata based on celery hearts, creating a dish that is lighter, fresher and particularly suited to festive meals.

It may be very different from the Christmas fare many Australians expect, but it makes a wonderful antipasto, salad or accompaniment to roasted meats and fish.

A Christmas CAPONATA  – a Dish Rooted in Sicilian Seasons

One of the pleasures of Sicilian cooking is its respect for seasonal produce. Traditional Christmas tables often feature dishes that celebrate winter vegetables rather than relying on ingredients available year-round.

In many parts of Sicily, celery is the principal ingredient in Caponata di Natale. Some regional versions also include leafy winter greens such as chicory, spinach or endive.

Traditionally, the celery is boiled before being sautéed. I prefer a simpler approach: slicing the celery very finely and cooking it gently in olive oil until just softened. This preserves some of its texture and freshness while allowing it to absorb the sweet-and-sour flavours that are characteristic of Sicilian caponata.

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Caponata di Natale served at room temperature—a traditional Sicilian Christmas antipasto made with celery, olives, capers and almonds
The Magic of Agrodolce

Like many Sicilian dishes, this caponata relies on the balance of agrodolce—the combination of sweet and sour flavours.

The sweetness comes from sugar and sultanas, while vinegar provides acidity. Salty capers and olives add depth, and almonds contribute richness and texture.

The result is a dish full of contrasts:

  • Sweet and sour
  • Salty and fruity
  • Soft and crunchy
  • Delicate and robust

It is these contrasts that make Sicilian caponata such a memorable dish.

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Unlike the better-known eggplant caponata, this festive Sicilian version celebrates winter vegetables, especially tender celery hearts.

 

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The sweet-and-sour agrodolce dressing brings together the distinctive flavours of capers, olives, sultanas and almonds.

Sultanas or currants are both good to use. Muscatels and raisins are OK as well, but their size may not be as visually pleasing.

Sometimes I toast the almonds, sometimes I have used pine nuts.

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Prepared a day ahead, Caponata di Natale develops deeper flavours and is ideal for entertaining.

Serving Caponata di Natale

Although I often serve this caponata alongside meat or fish, I particularly enjoy it on its own at the beginning of a meal with good bread and a glass of wine.

Like most caponate, it improves with time. Preparing it a day ahead allows the flavours to develop and meld together beautifully.

Serve it at room temperature and finish it with toasted almonds or, for an extra layer of texture, a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs.

Caponata di Natale (Christmas Caponata)

Serves 6–8

Ingredients
  • 1 cup blanched almonds, toasted and chopped
  • 1 large celery heart, using only the pale inner stalks and tender leaves
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • ¾ cup sultanas or currants
  • ½ cup capers (salted or in brine)
  • ¾ cup green olives, pitted and chopped
  • ½ glass white vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method

Prepare the Vegetables

Finely slice the celery stalks and chop the tender leaves.

Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan and gently sauté the celery and onion. Season lightly with salt and cook for about 10 minutes, or until softened.

Add the olives, sultanas and capers. Cook for a further 2 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Make the Agrodolce Sauce

Using the same pan, gently heat the sugar until it begins to melt and lightly caramelise.

Carefully add the vinegar and allow it to bubble and reduce slightly.

Return the vegetable mixture to the pan and stir well to coat everything in the sweet-and-sour sauce.

Add some of the almonds, reserving the remainder for garnish.

Rest and Serve

Transfer the caponata to a serving dish and refrigerate overnight.

Bring to room temperature before serving.

 Top with the rest of the almonds or breadcrumbs when ready to serve.

A Caponata for the Festive Table – SICILIAN SEAFOOD COOKING

This celery-based Christmas caponata is one of the many traditional Sicilian caponate featured in my book Sicilian Seafood Cooking. It demonstrates the remarkable diversity of Sicilian cuisine and the way seasonal ingredients shape festive cooking across the island.

While it may not resemble the caponata most people expect, it remains unmistakably Sicilian—rich in contrasts, deeply rooted in tradition, and always at its best when shared, especially with guests who are only familiar with eggplant caponata.

THE MANY VERSIONS OF CAPONATE and grilled food

ARTICHOKES and how we love them; CAPONATA DI CARCIOFI

CAPONATA Catanese (from Catania) made easy with photos

SICILIAN CAPONATA DI MELANZANE from Palermo (Eggplant caponata with chocolate)

RADISH (RAVANELLO OR RAPANELLO)

This photo of this bunch of radishes was taken in France.

I was in France with friends and stayed in Mercadiol (a small hamlet) in the South West of France. It is the same restored barn that Stephanie Alexander stayed (with Maggie Beer and Colin her husband) when she researched material for her book Cooking & Travelling in the South-West France.

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My friends and I sampled much of the local cuisine, but we also enjoyed shopping in the local markets in the various nearby towns and villages and cooked some fabulous dishes together.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this variety of radish for sale at one of my favourite vegetable stalls at the market. Carmel, one of the stall’s proprietors proudly announced that a couple of her customers had said that they had seen this variety in France. She was pleased to hear that I verified this and had a photo of them.

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The following is a section from the vegetable chapter from my manuscript to be published in 2011.

Radish (ravanello or rapanello) is another vegetable that is probably over-looked in Australia – they are available all year round but are sweeter in spring. Radishes should be crisp, juicy, and peppery with sparkling white flesh.

My father grew them in his small garden in Adelaide because they reminded him of the times when he was a boy growing up in Sicily and he would help himself to the radish patch. When in Sicily, if in spring, it is quite common in people’s homes to be presented with small, firm radishes with fresh, unblemished tops at the beginning of a meal. Serve with a separate small bowl of salt, or extra virgin olive oil and salt, for dipping. Other tender vegetables such as broad beans, fennel or peas are also commonly placed on the table in the same way – it is a celebration of the vegetable and the season.

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Last week, my friend The Old Foodie wrote about radish.

When I select bunches of radish or kohlrabi, baby turnips or beetroot I partly select them for the quality of their leaves. In fact I cooked the leaves from the bunch of radish and baby turnips the night before you posted your blog – I sauté them in extra virgin olive oil and garlic.My father used to grow radishes in his garden and used to collect the young leaves for salads – not to be eaten alone, but as part of a mixed salad. He also grew rocket and radicchio and chicory and collected ‘salad ‘ leaf by leaf. And I support the theory that radish was used to stimulate appetite. My father used to talk about Sicilians just presenting a bowl of radishes (in season and fresh) with salt (to dip the radish into) before a meal.

Antipasto (or nibbles) before a meal is still not a common practice in Sicily, it is a modern invention, stimulated by tourists and their expectations. Because Sicilians to always begin a meal with a primo (first course), which for the majority of the time is pasta; they do not wish to spoil their appetite. The primo is followed by a secondo (main) and then fruit, and dessert for special occasions. A few nibbles, for example olives, a few cubes of marinaded pecorino could be the ‘nibbles’ for special occasions or part of an extended meal.

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BRESAOLA (Air-dried beef, a specialty from Lombardia)

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Bresaola is not Sicilian; it is a specialty of Lombardy. It is beef that has been salted and air dried and then eaten dressed with good quality extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and pepper.Air-dried beef is hard and dark, and like prosciutto it needs to be sliced paper-thin. A little goes a long way.

I needed to prepare something quickly for our Saturday lunch (2 friends visiting from Adelaide) so I made two salads – a tomato salad (with a little celery, basil and spring onion) and a rocket, radicchio and fennel salad. I baked some ricotta (see link to recipe) and prepared some bresaola. It was an easy and perfect lunch.

Good quality bread and good extra virgin olive oil to make the dressings are a must.

Although some bresaola is made by a small number of smallgoods manufacturers in Australia, it is not always easy to buy, however, I am able to purchase quality, local, air-dried beef (made by people of German, Dutch or Polish origins) which can be prepared the same way.

I often present bresaola as an antipasto. It is remarkably tasty and ever so easy.

PROCESS:

Lay thin slices of meat (one layer thick) on a plate and then drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top. This softens the meat; I do not leave the meat to marinate for very long (up to an hour) unless it is particularly dry. Just before it is ready to serve, add lemon juice and grind some black pepper over the top.

Although bresaola is not Sicilian, I was presented with this as an antipasto in Sicily when I was invited to dinner by one of the younger relatives of the family. I should not have been so surprised. Although their mothers generally only cook Sicilian food, their daughters read about food, watch food programs and experiment with different ingredients and recipes from elsewhere.

Those of you who have eaten at Cumulus (Melbourne Restaurant) may have eaten the bresaola of Wagyu beef; here it is presented with shaved fresh horseradish sprinkled on top. Not bad.

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