Recipe: Carrots with Capers (Kαρότα με Kάπαρης)

When I want an easy, reliable, colorful vegetable side, I make Carrots with Capers adapted from Marcella Hazan's More Classic Italian Cooking. It goes particularly well with roast meat or chicken.

I’ve made it for 2 and I’ve made it for 100. Over the last 30 years, I’ve made this dish hundreds of times. It’s never been anything other than wonderful.

Marcella explains why: “The tart corrective of the capers is just what the carrots need to add a little zip to their otherwise passive sweetness. And their gentleness, in turn, tempers the tonic bite of the capers.”

I've changed Marcella's original recipe by upping the parsley, garlic, and capers. Because the garlic is cooked in water, its flavor in the finished dish is quite mild.

Try it. You won’t be sorry.

Carrots with Capers (Kαρότα με Kάπαρης)
Serves 4
Adapted from More Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan (Alfred A. Knopf 1978)
Adding the water a little at a time keeps the carrots from getting waterlogged; it's the same principle as adding broth to risotto in stages. The carrots may be cooked ahead, reheated, and the capers added at the last minute, but the carrots taste better if cooked right before serving. Since capers are salted, be careful not to oversalt at the beginning.

1 pound carrots
1/4 cup capers, preferably salt-cured
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 – 1 1/2 cups water

Wash the carrots, peel them, and cut off the tops and bottoms. Cut into lengths the size and width of a woman’s little finger.

If using salt-preserved capers, rinse off the salt and let them soak in cold water for 10 – 15 minutes, and rinse them again. If using brined capers, rinse off the brine. Dry the capers and reserve.

Sauté the carrots, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil for 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and parsley and cook for 1 minute. Stir in 1/4 cup water and cook until the water completely evaporates. Continue adding 1/4 cups of water and evaporating it until the carrots are done. This takes 10 – 20 minutes; cook until the carrots are tender but firm.

When the carrots are done, brown them lightly in the oil remaining in the pan after the water is gone. Stir in the capers and cook for 1 minute. Taste and add salt or freshly ground black pepper, as needed. Serve immediately.
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This is my entry for Antioxidant Rich Foods/Five-a-Day Tuesdays hosted by Sweetnicks.