KATKAT'S KITCHEN

Salmon Caponata

Today, I have been updating some of my Squidoo lens and came across my Sicilian recipes, as usual I was drawn to the Caponata one of my favourite dishes when I thought I could have that with salmon. Caponata is a salad of cooked vegetables, always containing aubergines and originating in Sicily. Caponata often contains pine nuts and raisin and seasoned with vinegar which makes it sweet and sour at the same time. Caponata is often eaten at room temperature but because this was served with fish I wanted to serve it warm. I went to Waitrose for inspiration, but decided to use my tried and trusted recipe.

Salmon Caponata

I used my favourite caponata recipe, then grilled the salmon and folded it in at the last minute.

Ingredients

4 aubergines
Salt
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 celery hearts cut into little chunks
500g ripe italian beefy tomatoes, chopped
100g pitted green olives
60g salted capers, rinsed
1 salted anchovy or 2 fillets in olive oil
100g slivered almonds
30g golden sultanas
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
50g caster sugar
50ml white wine vinegar
Garnish with
almonds basil or mint

Method

Salt the auberginess and leave to drain for an hour in the colander.Heat about 6 tablespoons of virgin olive oil in a sauté pan and fry the aubergine cubes until golden. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Adding more oil to the pan if necessary, fry the onion until soft, then fry all the other ingredients, apart from the sugar and vinegar. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the aubergines to the mixture with the sugar and wine vinegar. Taste for salt and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Salmon Caponata notes.

Salmon Caponata can be eaten warm but it is also delicious at room temperature.As I was eating the salmon caponata I decided nest time to try it with rare tuna or mussels, as caponata is such a versatile dish.

In the past I have always served a caponata as part of a series of appetiser’s although it has been served as a main course in Sicily for the past two hundred years. The salmon caponata made an agreeable change, but I think I will do it again with mussels, somehow the idea of mussel caponata with aubergines and slightly sweet and sour sounds to me like a marriage made in heaven. The salmon caponata was a little heavy for my taste, but with the resh taste of mussels, that is another thing entirely.