Caponata from 'River Cottage Veg'

Caponata is one of my favorite dippy things to whip out for summertime entertaining. A tangy sweet-and-sour melange of eggplant, tomatoes, and briny olives, the dish plays well with summer staples like grilled bread, grilled chicken, and grilled...well, anything. This version, from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's version in River Cottage Veg, calls for an ingredient that I'd never thought to include in my caponatas: chocolate.

Caponata

Caponata is a very tasty Sicilian dish that's easy and quick to make. It can be used as a main or a side for dinner and it's great served with salmon and a slice of sourdough!

Sicilian Eggplant and Pine Nut Caponata

This Sicilian dish of eggplant and other vegetables sautéed in a sweet and sour sauce is shockingly flavorful. Packed with extra-virgin olive oil, raisins, pine nuts, herbs, vinegar, sugar, and a slew of other ingredients, it's the kind of dish you have to recalibrate your whole mouth for in order to really appreciate.

Sicilian-Style Broccoli Rabe With Eggplant and Capers

A simplified versino of caponata—the classic sweet and sour Sicilian eggplant relish—tossed with bitter broccoli rabe. This is about as flavorful as side dishes get.

French in a Flash: Campanelle with Eggplant Caviar

For this pasta dish, I purée roasted garlic, basil, and a touch of chili with the eggplant, and toss it over trumpets of campanelle pasta, studded with toasted pine nuts and laced with strings of fresh basil. Since eggplant is in season in the late summer, along with basil, now is the time when this dish is cheapest and best. Don't waste another second!

Bucatini with Roasted Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Sauce

Turn fresh summer produce into a hearty pasta dish with a fresh cherry tomato sauce, roasted eggplant, and herbs. Perfect for the transition to fall!

Pasta with Eggplant, Portobella, and Tomatoes

I spent a good portion of the last month making eggplant parmesan for the Food Lab article on the subject. This left me with a few things: lots of canned tomatoes, plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano, a slew of eggplants, and a great microwave-then-cook technique for getting the most out of their texture. That's about all there is to say about this recipe, other than the fact that it takes about 20 minutes to throw together, and is really good to boot.

Eggplant Pasta

This Eggplant Pasta is One of Italy's Most Legendary Pasta Today we are making one of Italy's, specifically Sicily, most famous and legendary pastas, Pasta alla Norma, the star of which is eggplant.

Crispy Caprese Salad

Usually when you make a caprese salad, you pull mozzarella out of the fridge and slice it up cold. And cold mozzarella is not the best way to serve it. It also lacks texture. Breading and frying the mozzarella warms it back up, brings the milkiness back and makes it resemble more of a just made mozzarella, and the breading adds a flavor texture that make this variation of caprese worth a shot.

Eggplant "Ricotta" Stacks From 'Nom Nom Paleo'

This trio of eggplant, tomato, and ricotta cheese makes for a hearty, if not terribly exciting, twist on a caprese salad. Give the appetizer a Paleo twist, though, and the dish transforms into something far more interesting. Michelle Tam's recipe in her new cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo, pairs eggplant slices (coated in ghee and broiled) with thick tomato steaks, a balsamic and shallot reduction, and her own macadamia nut-based ricotta "cheese."