Caponata Style Celery Spaghetti Sauce
By: Julia Delrieu
Published: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 9:10am

Ingredients




salt, pepper, olive oil
3-4 celery sticks
1/2 big red onion
1/2 a big egg plant
1 tomato
2-3 garlic cloves
1 can of peeled tomatoes in sauce or tomato sauce
(preferably fresh) basil and rosemary

Preparation

1 Cut the celery up in medium thick slices , heat them up in a frying pan  with  1 tbsp of olive oil until they become translucent (medium heat) 2 add finely chopped onions, a little salt and pepper and cook until they are also translucent / brown 3 Cut up the eggplant and tomato in small chunks, peel the garlic cloves and simply slice 2-3 times through them 4 Reserve celery and onion and use same pan for the eggplant chunks 5 Cook  the eggplant chunks with a sprinkle of salt and garlic in max 3-4 tbsp of olive oil in the pan until the eggplant starts softening and browning (med-high heat) - add some water if the eggplant starts drying up 6 When the eggplant has considerably diminished in size and the skin has started coming off, add the celery, onion and some pepper and cook for another 10-15 minutes (medium heat) 7 Add the peeled tomatoes or tomato sauce with a couple of fresh basil leaves and some rosemary 8 Cover and cook for at least 20 minutes (can go up to 90 minutes for an amazing taste) on low heat 9 Serve with spaghetti or macaroni and cover with parmesan

About

I made this on a rainy sunday when there was too many veggies leftovers. Like all sauces it tastes even better the day after! Add roasted pine nuts for extra umpf

Comments:
Christine Frenc...

Nice use of celery! Quite uncommon but looks great.
Why not adding some grated parmesan?
thx
Julia Delrieu

Thanks Christine! Indeed, I didn't even mention the parmesan as I always put some on my pasta :) But it is indispensable. Adding it to the recipe right away!