Eggplant insanity

The farms are practically giving away eggplant this time of the year.  I picked up our weekly box at Amber Wave Farmst this week and there were two huge bins, one of zucchini and one of eggplant, with a sign that said take all you want. 

What do you do with all the eggplant?  I made Caponata.  You can follow the amounts below or not.  In the end it kind of doesn't matter.  Caponata is one of those dishes that is almost like a kitchen sink.  Pour it all in and it just works.  I used Liz Neumarks recipe as my base.

5/6 large to medium eggplants and more

2 big sweet onions diced

1 cup diced celery

1 tbsp. thyme leaves

1 tbsp. rosemary leaves

2 yellow and 2 red peppers roasted (I roasted them whole on the grill)

1 cup capers drained

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups chopped tomatoes

I took 5 eggplants of all different sizes including about 10 of these African orange eggplants that have hit the farm stands out here this summer.  I sliced them all put, doused them with olive oil and grilled.  Once I grilled them I let them cool and cut them into small pieces.

In a really large deep pan I lightly covered the bottom with olive oil.  I got it hot and then added in the onions, thyme, rosemary and some kosher salt (about a tsp. for taste).  Saute until tender.   Then I added in the grilled chopped eggplant.

I let the peppers get really black on the grill and then I let them cool.  Took the skin off and then chopped up the peppers and added them to the pan.  I also put in the capers, vinegar, sugar and tomatoes. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Crank up the heat a little and let the liquid evaporate as the mixture gets thicker.  Let cool and serve.  This stays really well in the refrigerator for more than a few days.

More than likely I will be making more in the next couple of weeks.  It is really yummy over anything.