Manetta's

(This recipe will yield about 2 quarts of vegetable caponata, which you can keep in the fridge for about 1 week.)

An all time favorite recipe in the Italian cuisine, caponata is best made in advance and the flavors allowed to marry.  Serve it with slices of toasted Italian bread or by itself. Your guests will truly enjoy this medley of fresh vegetables.

Ingredients:
8 medium Italian eggplants (6 cups), diced
2 cups celery, diced
3 cups onions, diced
1 small red pepper (1 cup), diced
1 small green pepper (1 cup), diced
3 garlic cloves
4 cups fresh tomato, chopped
3 cups tomato sauce
¼ cup raisins
½ cup pignoli nuts
1 cup Gaeta olives, pitted
2 tbsp capers
1 tbsp salt
5 tbsp white vinegar
4 tbsp light brown sugar

Method: Deep fry each vegetable (eggplant, zucchini, celery, and red and green peppers) separately. Drain oil in a colander. Sauté onion and garlic in oil in a large pot until golden. Add four cups of chopped tomato and 3 cups of tomato sauce. Simmer until sauce is thick, add salt, and let cool for 1 hour. In a large bowl combine all fried vegetables with olives, pignoli nuts capers and raisins. Mix the white vinegar and brown sugar together and add to the vegetables. Add tomato sauce mixture.