Caponata with pan-fried snapper

Caponata is an iconic dish of Sicily, bringing together Mediterranean greats like eggplant, capsicum, tomatoes, capers and basil. The sweet-and-sour, jammy-like mixture is perfect with everything from pan-fried fish to crusty bread.

• serves

  2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 185 ml (¾ cup) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for pan frying
• 2 large eggplants, diced into 2 cm pieces
• 2 brown onions, diced into 2 cm pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 celery stalks, peeled and diced into 2 cm cubes
• 1 red capsicum, diced into 2 cm cubes
• salt and black pepper, to season
• 400 g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp baby capers, drained
• 90 g (½ cup) Sicilian green olives
• 60 ml (¼ cup) red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 handful basil leaves, plus extra to serve
• ¼ cup finely shredded parsley

To serve

• 2 snapper fillets, skin on (middle fillets) dory or other white fish, about 200 g each

Instructions

1. Heat large frying pan over medium heat, add the oil and fry the eggplant in two batches for about 6 minutes or until well-browned. Remove from the pan.
2. Either add or remove the oil from the pan until there is about 60 ml (¼ cup) in the pan. Add the onion, garlic, celery and capsicum, season with salt and fry for 10 minutes until fragrant and browned, then add the eggplant, tomato, capers, olives, vinegar and sugar and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir through the basil and parsley. Cool to room temperature.
3. To cook the snapper fillet, heat a frying pan over medium heat and add a little oil. Season the skin of the fillets and fry for about 4 minutes or until the skin is crisp. Flip and fry for just a few seconds or until cooked through. Spoon the caponata over the base of a large serving plate. Top with the fish, then scatter over the extra basil and drizzle with oil. Leftover caponata is delicious eaten cold the next day with crusty bread.

 

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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Midweek Mediterranean

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Watch The Full Episode Here

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