This is one that Linda Lou posted a while back from Ellie Topp's Small Batch Preserving book and has been tested for safety.

CAPONATA

"Caponata is a Sicilian dish served as a salad, side dish or relish. We also like it as an appetizer spread on toasted baguette slices."

1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch (5 mm) cubes
1 1/2 tbsp pickling salt (20 mL)
2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, diced
1 cup diced zucchini (250 mL)
1/2 chopped onion (125 mL)
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped stuffed olives (50 mL)
1 tbsp capers, rinsed (15 mL)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh thyme (5 mL) or 1/4 tsp (1 mL) dried
1/4 tsp each: salt and freshly ground pepper (1 mL)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (75 mL)
2 tsp granulated sugar (10 mL)
2 tsp olive oil (10 mL)
2 tbsp tomato paste (25 mL)

(Read Step-by-Step Guide (below) before proceeding with recipe.)

Place eggplant in a non-reactive bowl. Sprinkle with salt and stir well. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain eggplant in a sieve and rinse twice. draining thoroughly; press out excess moisture.

Place eggplant, tomatoes, red pepper, zucchini, onion, garlic, olives, capers, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper in a large roasting pan.

Heat vinegar, sugar, and oil in a microwavable container until hot, about 1 minute, stir into vegetables.

Bake in a 350 degree F (18OC) oven for about 1 1/2 hours (1 hour for a convection oven), or until vegetables are softened and liquid has evaporated, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven, discard bay leaf and stir in tomato paste.

Remove hot jars from canner and spoon relish into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (headspace).

Process 15 minutes for half-pint (250 mL) jars and 20 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars in a boiling water canner.

Makes 5 Cups (1.25 L)

Another option is to make your cooking recipe if you have a favorite and freeze it.

There are just so many low-acid vegetables in it that it is almost impossible to develop a recipe for it that is safe to can and then eat without cooking - even with pressure canning. It really isn't something most inexperienced canners should tackle IMO. Make your recipe and freeze it instead is the best advice.

And yes, it does make a big difference which vinegar you use. 5% acidity required regardless of type. You can use cider vinegar if you don't like the red wine vinegar but white distilled would change the flavor badly.

Dave

Steve

My rice wine vinegar is only 4.2% and I did see an apple cider flavored vinegar in a store (some strange off the wall brand) that was 4.5%. If it's below 5%, we normally don't use them.