Wash and peel the eggplant removing the stalks (leaving the peel), cut them into not too small dices and place them in a colander sprinkled with coarse salt under a weight (a bowl full of water is fine) in order to fill out part of water with a bitter taste of eggplant. Keep them in salt for at least two hours. Then rinse them, dry them with a clean cloth and fry in olive oil. Once fried, keep aside the eggplant. Now fry the garlic, the celery cut in little pieces (celery has been blanched in water previously), chopped ripe tomatoes, olives, pitted and cut into four, capers, pine nuts and raisins. Cook over low heat until the celery is became tender, at this point add the fried eggplant kept aside and let cook for another 5-10 minutes on low heat. At this point we proceed with the sweet and sour sauce, pour the vinegar and sugar and stir well and cook it on low heat for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper and let it rest for a few hours before serving.

The Sicilian “caponata”, as the name reveals, is a dish of traditional cuisine of Sicily. It is certainly one of the most renowned and popular Sicilians dishes, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food has placed it among the Foodstuffs (PAT) of Sicily. 
It is made entirely from plant-based foods, so it is also a dish suitable for those who follow vegetarian and vegan diets. 
The caponata is consumed mainly in the summer by taking advantage of the period of collection of eggplant (though now, at great cost, are now available throughout the year). There are several versions of this dish, depending on the location what often varies is the type of vegetable used. Basically the caponata is based on fried vegetables, that are then cooked in a sauce made ​​with tomato and served in sweet and sour sauce made ​​with vinegar and sugar. Caponata should be served warm, after a few hours from the end of the cooking time. This time is necessary to penetrate the vegetables in sweet and sour flavor.
The etymology of the word "caponata" is much debated and there would be several theories about the origin of the term. One of these would trace the word caponata to the dialect of the fish dolphinfish which in some areas of Sicily is known as "Capone", this fish was served on the tables of the aristocracy in the past along with a sweet and sour sauce, it is believed that, with the attempt to emulate this delicious dish, the people can not afford a fish so prized, it has replaced with eggplant (cheaper and affordable for all), hence may have been born the caponata.

The complete absence of animal foods makes this dish absolutely cholesterol free, also the overwhelming presence of eggplant (eaten with the skin, as this recipe requires) enriches the dish of anthocyanins, which are important compounds with many beneficial properties.
It is a dish rich in minerals and vitamins, in fact, it is a good source of potassium, folate, vitamins C, A and E. In addition, it is also excellent ratio between the unsaturated fatty acids to saturated, in fact, due to the totally vegetable composition, the latter fatty acid class represents only a small portion of total fatty acids (15%).
The fats in this dish, however, although of good quality, are abundant making the dish caloric. This is due to the fact that the eggplant, according to the traditional recipe are fried. We must, therefore, take account of this when we decide the other dishes to balance the calorie intake and the amount / quality of fats and other nutrients.

For each serving: 


Energy: 218.54 Kcal 
Total Dietary Fiber: 3.38 g 
Alcohol: 0.00 g 
Water: 142.12 g 
Total Protein: 3.73 g 
Animal protein: 0.00 g 
Vegetable protein: 3.73 g 
Total lipids: 17.64 g 
Animals lipids: 0,00 g 
Plant lipids: 17.64 g 
Cholesterol: 0.00 mg 
Available carbohydrates: 12.00 g 
Starch: 0.06 g 
Sugars: 11.94 g