Skip to main content
Main

Tex-Mex Caponata

A roasted vegetable dish featuring peppers, eggplant, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, capers, currants, pine nuts, and red wine vinegar.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Tex-Mex Caponata

Oven425°F

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

  2. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray heavily with cooking spray. Set aside.

  3. Seed the peppers. Cut each pepper vertically into quarters, then stack 2 to 3 pieces at a time and cut the peppers horizontally into ¼ inch strips.

  4. Place the strips in a large mixing bowl. Add the garlic and onion. Toss well.

Roast the vegetables

  1. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet. Liberally spray the vegetables with cooking spray until well coated. Place the pan on a rack set in the middle of the oven.

  2. Arrange the eggplant on a second prepared baking sheet. Spray the eggplant with cooking spray until well coated. Place a large piece of foil over the eggplant, covering it loosely. Place the pan on rack set toward the top of the oven.

  3. Set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir the peppers and return them to the oven.

  4. Stir the eggplant, turning the cubes. Cover the eggplant again with foil. Return the pan to the oven.

  5. Bake both pans of vegetables another 10 minutes.

  6. Scrape the softened pepper mixture back into a large bowl. Set the garlic aside.

  7. Stir the eggplant, turning the cubes. Cover the eggplant again with foil. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cubes hold their shape but feel soft to the touch.

  8. Coarsely chop the roasted garlic. Add the roasted garlic to the bowl of roasted peppers and onions.

Make the caponata

  1. Add the jalapeño, cilantro, capers, currants, pine nuts, and vinegar.

  2. When the eggplant is done, scrape it into a bowl. Add the salt and black pepper. Mix with a fork until the caponata is well blended and creamy.

  3. Set aside to cool. If possible, refrigerate overnight before using.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

413Calories
9 gProtein
24 gFat
49 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pine1 oz (28g)191
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Capers1 tbsp (9g) drained2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + eggplanttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together801 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Eggplant + caperstop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together45 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Garlic + jalapenotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,700 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggplants
Cubes soften and hold their shape, adding bulk and a creamy body to the caponata.
Peppers
Roasting softens their flesh and concentrates their sweetness, forming the base of the dish.
Red onion
Softens and turns sweet as it roasts, balancing the sharpness of the other vegetables.
Garlic
Roasting mellows its bite and turns it sweet and nutty in the blended mixture.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the roasted vegetables and balances their richness.
Pine nuts
Add a soft, buttery crunch and richness to the mixture.

The step that matters

Roasting the eggplant under foil. Eggplant is spongy and absorbs oil quickly. Covering it loosely traps steam so the cubes turn tender, while uncovered time lets them brown. Stopping when the cubes hold their shape keeps the mixture from turning to mush.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, onion, clove, garlic, eggplant, jalapeno, capers):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, onion, clove, garlic, eggplant, jalapeno, capers. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipes