Caponata appetizer and Chard pie!

Caponata (Sicilian Eggplant appetizer)
From Madonna Dersch-Cheney with Mim adaptations.

Olive oil
1 large onion
several cloves of garlic
celery
1 large eggplant
2 C diced plum tomatoes
¼ C green pitted olives,
¼ X black pitted olives
capers
red wine vinegar
balsamic vinegar,
tomato paste
fasil
oregano
salt and pepper

Cube and liberally salt the eggplant. Leave skin on. Let sit in colander for 30 min. Rinse well to remove salt. This will take out excess moisture, and I’ve been told, prevent bitterness. Also, the eggplant soaks up less oil in the cooking process.

In a deep sauce pan, sauté, until translucent, the onion, garlic and about 2 cups of celery, roughly chopped. (I didn’t have celery but I had some sliced up squash so used that instead.)

Add the eggplant & sauté until lightly brown for about 7 minutes or less. Add the 2 Cups of tomatoes (I used one 14.5 ounce can diced with the juice) Add ¼ C each of cut up green and black pitted olives, 3 T capers minced up, 3 T red wine vinegar and 3 T balsamic vinegar (I found this a bit vinegar-y for my taste so next time I’ll reduce the vinegar to half the amount) ¼ c tomato paste, 1 t oregano, 1 t basil, salt and pepper to taste.

Bring ingredients to a low boil (I added a bit of water as I didn’t seem to have enough liquid to boil) Simmer and reduce until thick, stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom of pan. Take off heat. Cool, then chill in refrigerator. Good on toasted Italian bread, or on crackers. I’ve served this on pasta for a cool summer meal with a side of cucumbers.

Buon appetito
mim

CHARD -
Here’s a chard fact that I just learned, the common beet root evolved from the leafy Swiss Chard. These greens are high in vitamins A, E and C and contain no oxalic acid. It freezes well. Just blanch chopped chard for 3 minutes, rinse under cold water to stop cooking process, drain and place in an airtight container (like a zip lock bag.)

Chard Pie
From the A to Z -Madison WI CSA cookbook

1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T oil
1 bunch Swiss chard
6 eggs
1 C shredded cheese
1 t salt
2 pie crusts

Heat oven to 400°. Brown onions and garlic in oil. Trim and chop chard, add to pan and cook down until wilted. Beat eggs in a bowl, mix in cheese, salt and chard mixture. Pour into pie shells and bake 20 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted into middle comes out clean. Makes 2 pies. (I’m going to try this in a rectangular baking dish rather than 2 pie pans . I’ll use a simple pat-in pie crust recipe) It sounds yummy.