How To Make Slow-Cooker Caponata

Caponata is a Sicilian eggplant relish made with celery, onion, and tomatoes cooked into a sweet and sour sauce and served with bread as an appetizer. Some versions have olives or capers, others call for raisins or zucchini, and some even use hot peppers or anchovies. The results of this nuanced cooking process are delicious, if not exhausting.

Here, the slow cooker takes care of all the cooking, making this a mostly hands-off dish that can be used as an appetizer or main course.

For this luscious stew to take on the right consistency in a slow cooker, we’re cutting the eggplant, onion, tomatoes, and celery into small or thin slices. The small pieces make the dip easier to, well, dip, but also ensure all the ingredients cook down at the same time. Eggplant in particular benefits from the smaller size; any larger than a 1/2-inch cube and the eggplant becomes spongy in the slow cooker.

Beyond the chopping, the key to making this eggplant caponata in the slow cookers is cooking the vegetables in a small amount of liquid for about an hour. This step draws out the vegetables’ moisture and helps them absorb the flavor of the vinegar and sugar.

Caponata truly embodies the Sicilian concept of agrodolce — a sauce that is both sour and sweet. Food historians agree the dish was born as a means to preserve vegetables with wine, but they can’t agree on whether the dish was created upon marine ships or in roadside taverns. Red wine vinegar plays the part of wine in our slow-cooker version, and capers add a briny punch; sugar and raisins add sweetness to balance out the sour.

While caponata has all the trappings of a relish, it is often served as a dip. You can serve it warm straight from the slow cooker, or chill it (and let the flavors meld overnight in the fridge) and serve it at room temperature. Caponata can also double as a sauce for warm pasta, grilled chicken, or fish. Serve it straight-up as a side, or as breakfast topped with a poached egg.