Summer Squash Caponata
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½pounds medium green zucchini, cut into ¾-inch cubes
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1½pounds yellow summer squash, cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 1large onion, diced (about 1½ cups)
- 6celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
- Pinch of red-pepper flakes
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3tablespoons red- or white-wine vinegar
- 2tablespoons medium capers, rinsed, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes and drained
- 24green olives, such as Castelvetrano or Cerignola, for garnish
- 6hard-boiled eggs (9-minute), for garnish
- Italian parsley leaves, for garnish
- Basil leaves, for garnish
- 12(½-inch) slices Italian or French bread, toasted
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
186 calories; 9 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 668 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Pour ½ inch olive oil into a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add enough zucchini to cover bottom of pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Let zucchini sizzle and brown slightly. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Continue cooking zucchini and summer squash in batches, adding oil to the pan as necessary.
- Step 2
In the same skillet, cook the onions over medium-high heat, stirring, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add celery and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper and transfer onion mixture to bowl with zucchini.
- Step 3
To the bowl, add red-pepper flakes, sugar, vinegar and capers. Toss gently together. Taste and adjust, making sure the seasoning is bright, with a balanced sweet-sour flavor. Leave for 10 to 15 minutes and taste again. (If time permits, let the flavors marry for an hour or more before serving. The caponata may be refrigerated for up to 2 days; bring to room temperature to serve.)
- Step 4
Transfer mixture to a large platter. Top with olives and hard-cooked eggs, halved or quartered. Garnish with parsley and basil leaves. Serve at room temperature with toasted bread for making crostini.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Joanne Weaver
Every summer I cook up something similar...a pan of sweet onions, zucchini, gold bar squash, garlic sauteed in olive oil. Sometimes in slices, sometimes in a dice. With lots of dried basil and oregano. A splash of vinegar, hot pepper flakes. Eat it all week, hot, warm, room temp. May add pasta, mushrooms, chick peas, toasted walnuts, feta for a casserole. Even better if you let it sit for awhile. Oh, and I always cook the onions first to flavor the pan.
Shawn N.
For years I have dreaded the annual arrival of squishy vegetable season. The unholy trinity of zucchini, summer squash, and eggplant. People would always say, "you just don't like it because you haven't had it pickled/fried/done by me/baked in a cake/sauteed in a twinkie". Even bacon did nothing to redeem it. But finally, this recipe has restored my faith in summer squash and the genius of chefs. This was fantastic. I will never again flee from zucchini.
Chris
not being fond of the flavor of cooked celery I substitute fresh fennel
Cathy
Jicama.
Nandor Vadas
Can I home can this version, or perhaps a different one? Sounds great to have on the shelf for the winter doldrums.
Martha
I agree with those including eggplant. I also don’t use olives but add sultanas for a bit of sweetness. Lately I’ve been roasting the eggplant to make it less oily. No extra virgin in the cooking part, it’s not a cooking oil. Drizzle a little just before you serve it. To the person who’d like to can it, you’ll have to pressure sterilize it as there’s not enough acid to prevent spoilage, i, e. botulism.
Rose D’Avola Schooler
To keep it Sicilian and authentic I would recommend using eggplant and not zucchini AND the flavor is better. Also no need for capers- you have the green olives-same family! Crunchy celery? Nope- Cook it! Add some already made tomato sauce (4T) or tomato paste (follow can cooking directions for paste). The sugar, sauce, vinegar and eggplant will last a week in fridge! Use a touch of EVOO to garnish at the end. Now that’s Sicilian!
Roni Jordan
This may be a tasty way to use summer squash but without eggplant it is not caponata.
Annie Slocum
I love all of David Tanis' recipes!
Annie Slocum
Over the top delicious!
alexandra zinke
Guys I served this delicious summer salad with little goat-cheese-on-toasts and they were a hit all around!
Kate C
Love this twist on caponata. Zucchini and summer squash are everywhere in summer and this is a tasty way to serve them. I make a big batch and have it for lunch all week in the summer. When I serve this to people with egg sensitivities, I add diced fresh mozzarella instead. I don't think anyone is mistaking this for traditional caponata, it's clearly a variation. The complaining in some of the comments sounds like gatekeeping. Like it or don't, but why just comment a completely different recipe?
Mike C.
Waaaayyyy too much oil! Dish was soggy and awful. Roast the squash and sauté the onions/celery mixture in a TABLESPOON of EVOO, not “1/2 an inch.” Also, what is “bright?” Can we please stop being high-brow and use everyday cooking terms that everyone is familiar with?
Christa
This was, of course, terrific, as are all of David Tanis' recipes. I had only 2-1/2 pounds of squash and served it over one pound of whole-wheat pasta, which was too much--3/4 pound would have been better. I love caponata as well as all of David Tanis' recipes and anything that utilizes fresh, seasonal produ. I swapped the kohlrabi in my CSA share for the celery.
Barbara
Diced into 3/4" cubes, the squash tumbles off crostini. Quarter inch would be more like it. We liked the balance of sugar with white wine vinegar. Used leeks but shallots are in the market now, and they would melt into this caponata. Used up four more summer squash from this morning's harvest of nine - deliciously!
Ellen
I made this for friends as a first course while waiting for the hubby to finish grilling duties, and it was a big hit - beautiful and delicious. I definitely played with the sweet/sour balance and salt level until it was to my taste. A great way to use the summer squash that keeps piling up.
Tessa
This squash caponata is a nice change from the typical version with eggplant. I love the sweetness of the squash. It doesn’t need the sugar. My only suggestion is to drain the oil off the squash and onion mixture (let rest on paper towels) after frying it. Otherwise the end result has too much oil. And yes, use good extra virgin olive oil. The frying heat is not so high as to burn the oil or have it degrade. Italians would use nothing else. The flavor of it is important here.
kb
It was OK...needed more salt and the I would chopped the zucchini and squash smaller
JohnfromBoston
Magnificent. Quick. Healthy. Screams summer is here, ENJOY!
Cindy
Nice, adaptable recipe. Made a scaled down version with some substitutions based on what was at hand. 2 medium yellow squash. Shallot in place of onion. Fennel instead of celery. Sherry vinegar in place of red/white wine vinegar. And added in a chopped Roma tomato. Good balance of flavor between the vinegar and sugar (used about a 1/3 of what was called for given I had about 1/3 in weight of total squash & zucchini called for).
Janet M
Joanne Weaver, totally agree!
Jane
OK; good use for squash. Doe NOT keep well.
Natalie
I cooked this last night, it was lovely :)
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