Red pepper caponata
4 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Onion; thinly sliced | |
| 1 | Red bell pepper; cored and chopped | |
| 3 | Garlic cloves thinly sliced; and | |
| 1 | Garlic clove finely chopped | |
| 3 | tablespoons | Extra virgin olive oil; plus |
| 1 | tablespoon | Olive oil; if desired |
| Salt; to taste | ||
| 5 | Ripe tomatoes with juice; fresh or canned | |
| ¼ | Jalapeno chile; seeded and minced | |
| 1 | pinch | Cumin |
| 1 | pinch | Turmeric |
| 1 | pinch | Ginger |
| 1 | pinch | Saffron threads |
| ⅛ | teaspoon | Fennel seeds OR 1/4-bulb fennel; diced |
| 2 | tablespoons | Sugar; or as desired |
| 1 | tablespoon | Drained capers; or more to taste |
| 10 | Mediterranean olives; green or black, pitted and cut into halves | |
| 2 | tablespoons | Raisins |
| 3 | tablespoons | Lemon juice; or more to taste |
| 1 | tablespoon | Chopped fresh marjoram and/or parsley |
Directions
Lightly saute the onion, peppers and sliced garlic in the olive oil until they soften; sprinkle with salt as they cook. Add the tomatoes, jalapeno, cumin, turmeric, ginger, saffron, fennel and sugar; cook for 10 minutes or so, until thickened and saucelike.
Stir in the capers, olives, raisins and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning; you want a sweet- sour-spicy balance. Adjust the sugar, lemon juice and spices accordingly.
Stir in the marjoram and/or parsley and the reserved chopped garlic, taste for seasoning and set aside to cool.
Serve as a sauce with the chicken, or as a spread for crostini. Serves 4.
PER (4th) SERVING: 185 calories, 2 g protein, 21 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 281 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.
Excerpt from SF Chronicle 05/06/98 Food Section see www.sfgate.com ; Busted by HANNEMAN
Notes: "This is a variation on the classic Sicilian recipe, using peppers instead of eggplant. A caponata is sweet and sour, and very savory, much like a contemporary European chutney. This one is spicy, too -- a small dab on the citrus-spiced chicken breasts enlivens it brilliantly." Recipe by: Marlena Spieler, San Francisco Chronicle (1998) Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by Kitpath <phannema@...> on May 07, 1998