Caponata with Buffalo Mozzarella

This recipe brings together two great culinary traditions by pairing buffalo mozzarella (which is made in Campania, near Naples) with caponata, possibly one of the most emblematic dishes of Sicily and the Aeolian Islands. To me this dish is representative of the islands’ remote position in the Tyrrhenian, directly on the historic trading route between Palermo and Naples. Caponata reflects key influences from Sicily’s varied cultural past – sweet and sour from the Arabs, and tomatoes from the Spanish. It pairs beautifully with the slightly acidic milky taste of buffalo mozzarella, and is particularly heavenly scooped up with a piece of sourdough (the Italians call the action of scooping up any remaining sauce with bread as doing a ‘scarpetta’ or little shoe).

1 large eggplant, cut into 3 cm cubes

100ml extra-virgin olive oil

sea salt and ground pepper

100 grams blanched almonds

1/2 red onion, roughly chopped

2 celery sticks, cut into 2 cm pieces

100 grams large green olives, pitted and cut into quarters

3 tablespoons salted capers, soaked in water for 2 hours

400ml tomato passata

2 teaspoons caster sugar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon pine nuts

handful of basil leaves

TO SERVE

olive oil

6 slices of fresh sourdough

flaky sea salt

2 large balls of buffalo mozzarella, cut into quarters

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

Put the eggplant on a baking tray, toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast for 20 minutes.

Spread out the almonds on a separate baking tray and toast in the oven for about 5 minutes, until they darken and start to smell nutty. Remove from the oven, set aside to cool, then roughly chop.

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a wide frying pan and heat over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery and a pinch of salt and gently fry, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until translucent. Add the olives, capers and remaining olive oil and stir until well combined and everything is lightly coated with oil. Measure out the tomato passata and pour into the pan. Half-fill the measuring jug with water, swish it around to pick up any remaining passata and pour the tomatoey water into the pan, giving everything a good stir. Cook for 15 minutes. Add the roasted eggplant, sugar and a generous pinch of salt, then cover and cook over a very low heat for 25–30 minutes.

Remove the caponata from the heat and stir through the vinegar, pine nuts, chopped almonds and basil. Allow to cool to room temperature. The longer you leave the caponata the more delicious it will be as the flavours will have melded together. If you are eating it the next day, store it in the fridge overnight, then take out least an hour before serving so it comes back to room temperature.

When you’re ready to serve, drizzle olive oil liberally over the bread and sprinkle with flaky salt. Serve with the caponata and mozzarella. SERVES 6