One-Pot Eggplant Caponata Pasta

This silky, flavor-packed one-pot pasta is inspired by eggplant caponata, a classic Sicilian dish that falls somewhere in the middle of salad, relish, dip, and condiment. The mix of tender eggplant, sweet tomatoes, golden raisins, briny capers and olives, and a touch of zippy vinegar will have all your senses working: It’s sweet and tangy, savory and spicy, and the very best way to celebrate in-season eggplant.

In this series’ inaugural post, I explained that the Mediterranean diet isn’t a diet in the traditional sense — rather than telling you what not to eat, it focuses on filling your plate with extra-wholesome ingredients. Each month, I’ll be sharing a feel-good recipe that puts one of these ingredients front and center, both to show you why the Mediterranean diet praises it and help you bring more of it to your table.

This month, we’re focusing on vegetables. It’s easy to celebrate vegetables this time of year, when it seems like practically everything is in season. While the Mediterranean diet isn’t a vegetarian diet (more on that in coming months), it is one that heartily embraces vegetables and believes you can never have too many. Fresh vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals like potassium, folate, vitamin A and C, and magnesium, and they’re a great source of fiber. The best rule of thumb is to eat and enjoy them in abundance — you can’t go wrong no matter what type you choose. When fresh vegetables aren’t available, opt for frozen. Since they’re flash-frozen at the peak of ripeness, frozen veggies have all the same nutritional benefits as fresh do (as long as you select ones without added sauces or seasonings).

Eggplant has the ability to soak up whatever flavors are thrown at it, making it one of the best vegetables to keep close by this time of year. Caponata, which is a bit like Sicily’s answer to French ratatouille, is a great example of this. Although it varies from recipe to recipe, caponata is often made by sautéing and simmering cubes of eggplant with garlic, tomato, olives, capers, raisins, vinegar, fresh herbs, and pine nuts. It can be eaten warm or cold, as part of an antipasto spread, on its own for a light lunch, or with lots of good bread for a fuss-free summer dinner. It’s both sweet and sour — something Sicilians refer to as agrodolce — but also oh-so savory and moreish.

Here, caponata meets rigatoni in a playful twist. In true Mediterranean diet form, it’s the vegetables that really get the spotlight — they mix and mingle while the whole pot simmers, resulting in a dish with such complex flavors that you’ll be shocked you only dirtied one pot to make it. The olives and capers emit their briny bite, the raisins and tomatoes impart sweetness, and the eggplant absorbs it all. This is the kind of dinner to enjoy on a Saturday night with your favorite bottle of wine, but it’s so easy you can pull it off midweek, too. I have a feeling you’ll be doing both regularly now through September.

Welcome to Mediterranean Monday, Sheela Prakash‘s new monthly column of Mediterranean recipes. Here, Sheela will teach you all about the Mediterranean diet’s feel-good way of cooking and eating, and share vibrant, easygoing recipes. Cook with us using #mediterraneanmonday, and for even more great recipes, pre-order a copy of Sheela’s upcoming cookbook Mediterranean Every Day.