Aubergine Caponata With Cannellini Beans

When I am searching for new recipes to try, I sometimes come across a recipe that I just know will be delicious simply because of the ingredients it contains. If your favourite flavours are listed, it cannot possibly go wrong!

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large aubergines, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
½ x 25g pack flat leaf parsley, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped
2 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
60g pitted green olives, ½ chopped and ½ left whole
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, plus extra to taste
6 vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
400g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
30g pine nuts, lightly toasted

METHOD

Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan. When you can smell them cooking they are almost ready. They will probably be already golden by this point so remove from heat before they burn.

Heat the olive oil over a high heat in a large pan. Add the aubergine with the oregano and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden.

Lower the heat and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes, until starting to soften, then add the garlic and parsley stalks and cook for 1 minute.

Add the capers, olives and vinegar. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the vinegar has evaporated.

Add the tomatoes and cannellini beans. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.

Season and add more vinegar to taste. You can enjoy this straight away, or let it sit a while to allow the flavours to develop before serving at room temperature. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, if liked, and scatter over the pine nuts and chopped parsley leaves.

What a delicious and nutritious combination of ingredients – and to it is vegan to boot. Huge thumbs up for this recipe, but we knew it was going to be our ideal dish before I ever started cooking it. This is the photo from the recipe I followed.