Caponata alla Nigella

Today I'll give you a recipe for a sidedish. An Italian dish, and to be more specific a Sicilian one. This is a great recipe, adapted from the lovely Nigella Lawson. If you're not familiar with her, make sure you get to know her and her recipes!
Italian dishes always make me smile, they add a little sunshine to your dinner! So does this recipe, but I have to add, again, to buy good food! It makes the difference between a great dinner and a disappointed one. Taste is everything, and you DO want THAT don't you!?

What do you need:

1 eggplant, chopped

olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 can peeled tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon grated dark chocolate, I used Green & Black's

4 tablespoons capers

14 cup green olives

1 egg, hard boiled

Fry the eggplant in olive oil for a few minutes. When done, put them on a plate and sprinkle some sea salt over it. Add some new oil to the pan and fry the celery for a few minutes. Add it to eggplant (you see the beautiful color of the celery??? almost luminous!!).

Add some new oil to the pan and fry the onion until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes, some salt and pepper and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

In another (small) pan heat the sugar and vinegar, add the chocolate, capers and olives.

Stir until the chocolate has melted, and add it to the tomatoes and onion mixture.

Let this simmer for 5 minutes more. Then add the eggplant and celery and give it another 15 minutes.

Serve the Caponata on a big plate, and add the hard boiled egg. Et voilá, this is the result:

This side dish goes very well with the chicken with lemon and garlic I posted earlier. But fish or lamb will go very well with it too!

Enjoy!