Recipe by: Laura Vitale
Prep Time: minutes
Cook Time: minutes
Ingredients
__3 Tbsp Olive Oil
__1 cup Chopped Celery
__1 Medium Onion chopped
__1 Red Bell Pepper chopped
__1 Large Eggplant cut into 1 inch cubes
__1 28oz Can of Diced or Chunky Crushed
Tomatoes
__¼ cup Raisins
__3 tbsp Capers
__½ cup Pitted Kalamata Olives cut in half
__1 pinch of Hot Pepper Flakes
__1 Tbsp Sugar
__2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
__Salt and Pepper to taste
__Fresh Basil

1) Put the eggplant in a large colander and
sit the colander on a plate or bowl to catch
all the liquid. Take about 3 tbsp of salt and
sprinkle it over the eggplant and toss it all
together to make sure every piece of
eggplant has salt on it.

2) Put a plate directly on top of the
eggplant and add weights on top of that
Things like cans of tomato sauce a brick
or anything heavy. Let sit for 1 hour.

3) After 1 hour discard the water and wash the eggplants very well
drain them on a kitchen towel and dry them well to make sure they are
not soaking wet. Set them aside wile you start sautéing your veggies.

4) In a large non stick pan over medium high heat sauté the chopped
onion pepper and celery with the olive oil for about 5 minutes or until
the veggies start to cook down and get translucent. Then add the
eggplant and a pinch of hot pepper flakes and cook for about 3 minutes.

5) Add the canned tomatoes and raisins and reduce the heat to
medium. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes until all the veggies are cooked and
the stew is nice and thick.

6) Add the remaining ingredients and cook for about 1 more minute.
Taste and season well with salt and pepper and enjoy!
This dish is so fabulous to eat over some rigatoni cooked al dente or
over some smooth polenta full of parmiggiano reggiano. But my favorite
way is to eat it with a ridiculously large chunk of crusty Italian bread for
the best sandwich you will ever have. By the way this dish just gets
better and better as it sits leftover are a real joy