So, the recipe I was thinking of -- and where it comes from.

The place is Sicily -- aubergine is everywhere, aubergine and dark chocolate is a surprising combination that I found in several dishes, and sultanas/raisins also feature in a number of fish dishes and other savouries.

What I had for dinner last night was a caponata -- well, ok, it was as close as I could get to it while missing a couple of ingredients. It was still a delight. It's vegetarian, it can be served hot or cold, on its own or with pasta or flatbread or rice. There are many variations of the recipe, I'll post one that looks close to what I was aiming for :-)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.


• 2 medium onions, cut into thin strips


• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips


• 3 celery ribs, cut into small dice (if the leaves are fresh, cut and add them) (This is what I didn't have last night, and it worked well anyway)


• 1 large aubergine/eggplant (or two small/medium ones), cut into small dice (Not peeled.)


• 1/2 cup green or black olives, chopped (I use green because I don't like black olives)


• 2 tbsp. drained capers, rinsed and roughly chopped (in Italian recipes, this means salted capers, not vinegar-preserved. In this recipe either would work, since it's got vinegar anyway)


• 1/3 c. red wine vinegar


• 1 tbsp. sugar


• salt


• a few dried red chillies (to taste)


• a small handful of pine nuts (optional)


• a small handful of raisins/sultanas, soaked in water to soften, then drained (optional)


• a small handful of fresh basil leaves


• 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder, or more, to taste (optional and only if served cold)
  

Directions:

Dry-roast the pinenuts if you like. I definitely do. Take care because they're fairly delicate, you only want them slightly golden, not brown. (You can also skip the roasting, or skip the pinenuts entirely -- they don't appear in all versions of this recipe). Then set them aside -- and your pan is hot and ready for the next step. It's a one-pan dish, though you'll need a bowl for putting things aside. I used a wok and it was just perfect. (Note on chillies: if you don't break them, the result will be reasonably mild. Breaking them makes things a lot hotter. Also, if you haven't broken them, you might want to remove them at this point or later, to avoid the Lucky Dip where one of the commensals bites into a dried chilli without warning.)

Heat one quarter cup of oil in a large pan. Add a pinch of salt, the chillies and the onions and sauté over medium heat until translucent. Add the bell pepper and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pepper starts to soften.

[Variation 1: You can add 2 cups of canned tomatoes, crushed, at this point (I don't), and simmer, uncovered, until the mixture thickens somewhat or about 5-7 minutes. I really don't think it improves it, so -- only for people who won't believe it's Italian unless they see tomato :-). And I'm sure you can use fresh tomatoes, but in that case they should already be cooked.]

Remove from the heat and set aside in a bowl.

Heat another 1/4 cup of oil in the pan. Add the celery and sauté medium heat until it starts to soften. With a slotted spoon transfer the celery to the bowl with the pepper etc. Add the remaining one quarter cup oil and add the aubergine (eggplant) and cook, stirring considerably. If it starts to burn, lower the heat but do not add more oil.(Aubergine will drink as much oil as you give it, but that's not the idea. And singed aubergine tastes good.)

Now add the previously-cooked ingredients back to the aubergine, place over medium-low heat, cover and simmer stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Uncover the pan and stir in the olives, capers, basil, pinenuts and raisins if you're using them, vinegar and sugar. Simmer 1-2 minutes to blend the flavors. Adjust the seasonings and remove from the heat.

You can serve it hot, but it is more commonly served at room temperature or slightly cooled. In this case, you can dust it with cocoa powder just before serving.

It can be served as a dip with pita bread or other kinds of bread, as an antipasto with another dish, or as accompaniment to a main dish or as pasta sauce. It also keeps well in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Further notes:

What I actually did last night was cook some pasta, specifically orecchiette, and then add it to the wok for a final stir-and-mix before eating. It worked wonderfully -- not all types of pasta would be appropriate though, definitely short only, rough-texture ones are best, like orecchiette...

I'm told some people use anchovies. I imagine they add them in at the start, with the onion, but I can't vouch for it.

I'm also told that the version with raisins is specifically from Messina. I think it's much better than without :-)