Restaurant (Re)creation: Beretta's Eggplant Caponatina

This antipasto is a MUST when dining at Beretta.  It is tangy, light, and nutty and is the perfect appetizer to share while you are waiting for your main.  They offer the option of adding burrata, which just makes the dish all that more amazing.  I found the actual restaurant recipe online in a 7x7 article and just made a few tweaks.  Rather than frying the eggplant, I roasted it to lighten the dish a bit.  I also topped the caponatina with burrata (a must) and a little squeeze of lemon.  Other than that, you can thank Chef Ruggero Gadaldi for this beautiful creation.  Plus, it was featured in 7x7's 100 Things To Try Before You Die- so you can check one more dish off your list.

Serves 4-6 (as an appetizer)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized Japanese eggplants
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 basket cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped basil
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 tablespoons chopped green olives
• 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup fresh burrata (optional)
• 1/2 lemon wedge, squeezed
• Olive oil, for roasting
• Salt & pepper 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Meanwhile, peel eggplants, leaving some stripes and cut into 1 inch cubes.

Toss with olive oil and season with salt a pepper.

Roast the eggplant cubes on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, cut celery into 1/3 inch cubes and cook in boiling water for two minutes.

Remove celery, strain it, and let it cool.

Toss the eggplant, celery, tomatoes, capers, olives, and pine nuts together with with white balsamic vinegar.

Top with fresh burrata and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with toasted bread or simply eat it on its own!

Enjoy!


Beretta
1199 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA
(415) 695-1199
http://berettasf.com/

Recipe (Re)creation: Roasted Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce

~ From top: roasted eggplant,
close-up of (re)creation, finished and plated (re)creation ~

This is another recipe (re)creation from the Plenty cookbook, which has become a staple in my kitchen.  I highly recommend the cookbook- so many great recipes to choose from!  This recipe is incredibly easy and looks absolutely beautiful (almost too beautiful to eat).  Its a great starter that you can make for yourself any weeknight.  Its also sure to impress if you make it for a dinner party.  The elegant combination of the tender eggplant, creamy sauce, and garnish of pomegranate seeds is pretty ingenious.   Thank you chef Ottolenghi for creating this one!

Serves 4-5 as a starter

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves, plus a few whole sprigs to garnish

Maldon sea salt & black pepper

1 pomegranate

1 tsp za'atar (or dried oregano)

8 tbsp buttermilk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 small garlic clove, crushed

pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise and make 4 cuts in the flesh of the eggplant in the shape of a diamond.  

Place the eggplant slices, cut-side up, on a baking sheet.  Brush them with olive oil and keep on brushing more oil on until the eggplant absorbs most of the oil.

Sprinkle the eggplant with thyme leaves and salt and pepper and roast for 35-40 minutes (or until flesh is soft and nicely browned).

Meanwhile cut the pomegranate and break it apart, releasing the seeds into a bowl.  Remove any bits of white skin from the pomegranate seeds.  

To make the sauce: whisk together all of the ingredients and keep cold until needed.

Serve each eggplant slice with a generous drizzle of buttermilk sauce, and garnish with za'atar, thyme and pomegranate seeds.  Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!