Caponata Egg Salad Sandwich
From the story Solano Avenue Finds
Caponata Egg Salad Sandwich
- Yield: 4 sandwiches 1x
Description
Caponata is a traditional Sicilian dish of fried eggplant in an agrodolce (sweet and sour) sauce with celery, onions, olives, and capers. Sicilians serve it with hard-boiled eggs, and this sandwich is our take on that pairing. We like our eggs with jammy yolks, but feel free to cook yours longer if you prefer them more set. We find that caponata always tastes better the next day, so we make it ahead of when we want to enjoy the sandwiches.
Yield: 4 sandwiches with plenty of caponata left over. You can store leftover caponata in your fridge for up to 7 days, but you’ll probably eat it all up well before that.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds globe eggplants, skin on, chopped into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for frying and drizzling
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 2 cups tomato passata or sauce
- 4 celery stalks cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups pitted and halved green olives, preferably Castelvetrano
- 1/3 cup capers rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 6 jammy (7-minute) eggs, cooled, peeled, and quartered
- Focaccia
- Baby arugula
- Italian parsley, chopped for garnish
- Flake salt, for finishing
Instructions
To make the caponata: Fill a large sauté pan to 1½ inches with olive oil and heat. Fry the eggplant in 2 or 3 batches until golden-brown and soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Season well with salt. In a separate large frying pan, heat ¼ cup olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onion slices until just soft and translucent. Add tomato passata, celery, olives, capers, honey, vinegar, and salt to taste. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently stir in eggplant, being careful not to break it up. Simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool.
To assemble sandwiches: Cut focaccia into sandwich-sized squares, and slice in half lengthwise. We like to grill our bread in a frying pan with some olive oil, but this step is not necessary.
Gently fold the quartered eggs into the caponata, making sure to preserve the integrity of both the eggs and vegetables.
Layer baby arugula on the bottom focaccia slices. Top with a scoopful of the egg salad. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and flake salt before adding the top layer of focaccia.
Enjoy with plenty of napkins!
- Category: Entree
