By my approximation, there are two, maybe three weeks left of suitable picnic weather. Maybe. This week’s getting cold awfully fast, and no one wants to sit outside in gloves and hat with a continuously dripping nose. So if you’re going to picnic, it should probably happen sooner rather than later.
As far as what to make, how about caponata sandwiches?
These sandwiches fulfill the criteria for proper picnic food: they’re portable; they don’t contain anything that will go bad quickly (like mayo); they’re easy to make but look and sound kind of fancy; they satisfy both meat lovers and vegetarians; they taste good.
The recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis. Many of the ingredients you might already have on hand:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium eggplant, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 red bell pepper, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp capers
1 loaf ciabatta bread, or 4 ciabatta rolls
2 cloves garlic
Fresh water-packed mozzarella
Start by heating up the oil over medium heat and adding the celery. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the eggplant and saute until it starts to become tender. Season with salt.
Add the bell pepper, saute until tender, add the onion, and saute until translucent.
Add the tomatoes, raisins, oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes until the mixture thickens, then stir in the vinegar, sugar and capers. Check one more time for seasoning. Set aside.
Slice the ciabatta in half and grill both sides until lightly browned. Generously rub the garlic cloves over the grilled sides.
Now you’re ready to assemble. Slice your mozzarella into 1/3 inch pieces (or however thick you like) and lay them down on the bottom of the bread, then spoon the caponata over them. Place the other halves of the bread on top.
Here’s where I made a mistake (did this the last time I made these, too). I wrapped each sandwich individually in plastic wrap while both the caponata and ciabatta were still warm — that trapped the heat and made the top of the bread a little soggy.
It’s not a huge deal, but you do lose some of the integrity and bite of the ciabatta when it softens up like that. If possible, give yourself more time and let everything cool down before assembling and wrapping. The inside of the bread will still get soggy, but the outside should remain firm.
These sandwiches were taken down to Oakland Beach in Rye and enjoyed on a beautiful Saturday, alongside Caesar salad, Cajun crab chowder, lentil salad, homemade brownies and hot chocolate. Who knew it could be so much fun picnicking in October?