Dried Tomato Caponata

Total Time: 40 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 lb eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, in their skins,pierced once
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, preferably flat leaf,chopped
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons raisins, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons kalamata olives or 2 tablespoons other oil-cured olives, of choice,pitted and chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 32 plum tomatoes, cored,halved and seeded (4 lbs)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Recipe

• 1 preheat the broiler.
• 2 on a baking sheet, toss eggplant and garlic cloves with oil and salt and broil for about 4 minutes.
• 3 remove garlic and set aside to cool.
• 4 toss and stir eggplant, and continue to cook an additional 4 minutes until browned and tender.
• 5 transfer eggplant to a plate and let cool.
• 6 meanwhile, chop oven-dried tomatoes coarsely and place in a medium bowl along with the pine nuts, parsley, celery, capers, raisins, olives, thyme, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, red pepper flakes if using.
• 7 season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• 8 simply toss for a loose mixture, or mix well to bind the mixture together.
• 9 serve spread on crusty bread oven-dried tomatoes.
• 10 preheat oven to 200f cut tomatoes in half lengthwise, remove seeds.
• 11 slice off visible stems if desired.
• 12 on a baking sheet, toss tomatoes with oil and salt and arrange cut sides up.
• 13 place in the oven for 4-5 hours, or until visible moisture has evaporated and tomatoes are shriveled but still soft and pliable.
• 14 let cool and store in an airtight container up to 1 week.