Cauliflower caponata recipe
This recipe offers a cauliflower twist on the traditional aubergine classic

Caponata is a masterclass in balancing sweet, sour and salty, said Anna Jones. It's most often made with aubergine, which you have to fry in lots of olive oil first, making it less than ideal for a weeknight. But this buttery cauliflower version is all done in the oven, and to me it's just as good as the aubergine one. It has the texture of a stew and can be eaten warm as an antipasto – as is most common in Italy – on toast, or tossed through pasta.
Ingredients
- 1kg cauliflower, broken into roughly 4cm florets
- 3 red onions, peeled and cut into eighths
- 3 sticks of celery, cut into 2cm pieces
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp white-wine vinegar
- 2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
- 100g green or black olives, stones removed (I use a mixture of both)
- 3 tbsp capers
- 50g raisins
- ½ a bunch of parsley, leaves picked
- warm bread, to serve
Method
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
- Put the cauliflower, broken into florets, the 3 red onions (cut into eighths), and the pieces of celery into a large, high-sided baking tray with 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of white-wine vinegar and a little sea salt and pepper.
- Toss the mixture to coat, then roast for about 25 minutes, until everything is slightly charred and starting to soften. Remove from the oven.
- Turn the oven down to 200°C/180°C fan. Add the tins of plum tomatoes, breaking them in your hands as you do so, along with 100g of stoned green or black olives, 3 tablespoons of capers and 50g raisins. Give everything a good mix, mashing slightly with a fork, and return to the oven for about 40 minutes, or until everything is soft and sticky.
- Once ready, and while the mix is still piping hot, add another tablespoon of vinegar, toss through a handful of parsley leaves and serve. Finish with a very generous dousing of extra-virgin olive oil to bring it all together.
- Serve with warm bread.
Taken from Easy Wins: 12 flavour hits, 125 delicious recipes, 365 days of good eating by Anna Jones, published by Fourth Estate at £28. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £21.99 (incl. p&p), call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
Sign up for The Week's Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Music reviews: Lady Gaga, Jason Isbell, and Astropical
Feature “Mayhem,” “Foxes in the Snow,” and “Astropical”
By The Week US Published
-
Art review: Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night
Feature Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, through July 6
By The Week US Published
-
Video game review: Split Fiction and Monster Hunter: Wilds
Feature A split-screen sci-fi adventure and the return of a 20-year-old monster-hunting franchise
By The Week US Published
-
Music reviews: Lady Gaga, Jason Isbell, and Astropical
Feature “Mayhem,” “Foxes in the Snow,” and “Astropical”
By The Week US Published
-
Art review: Christine Sun Kim: 'All Day All Night'
Feature Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, through July 6
By The Week US Published
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Museum exhibitions across the globe are in artful bloom this spring. These are 5 to experience.
The Week Recommends See treasures from ancient Japan, Versailles and the Forbidden City
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Speedy Spanish tortilla recipe
The Week Recommends Quick and flavoursome dish is perfect for a light spring meal
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Book reviews: ‘One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’ and ‘How to Be Avant-Garde: Modern Artists and the Quest to End Art’
Feature Examining the West’s role in Gaza’s war and how the art market has ruined art
By The Week US Published
-
Film reviews: Black Bag and Novocaine
Feature A spy hunts for a rat—who could be his own wife—and a guy who can’t feel pain turns action hero.
By The Week US Published
-
David Johansen: the glam rocker who was a godfather of punk
Feature His band, the New York Dolls, influenced the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and even the Smiths
By The Week US Published