Massimo Mele’s Caponata Steamed Mussels
- Cook time: 1hour30mins
- Serves: 6
- Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- 1kg of black mussels
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 celery heart, finely chopped
- 1 red capsicum, finely chopped
- 300ml vegetable oil
- 1 medium eggplant, cut into 5cm cubes
- 100ml red wine vinegar
- 50g pitted black olives
- 50g pine nuts
- 50g raisins soaked in warm water overnight
- 20g sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
Method
- Heat the olive oil, then fry the onion and garlic until translucent.
- Add the celery and cook until tender.
- Add capsicum and cook until soft.
- Transfer into a large bowl.
- Heat vegetable oil in a separate pan and fry the eggplant in batches until golden brown.
- Drain on kitchen paper before placing all cooked ingredients into a bowl.
- Add to the vinegar, olives, pine nuts, raisins, chopped parsley and sugar to the cooked vegetables.
- Season well with salt and pepper, then leave to marinate for a few hours.
- Place the mussels in steamer until they open, remove the top shell and place on serving platter.
- Distribute caponata evenly on top of the mussels and leave to marinate for 30 minutes before serving.
