The great caper caper

[AndreaU]

OK you wise, wonderful people... I received a free jar of capers and have NO idea what to do with them! I'd love to use them but where- pasta sauces, salads, etc.? I should mention, we don't eat meat. Occasionally, we'll have fish. Looking forward to some delicious suggestions! Thanks in advance.

[Wendy w]

Do a search, you will find a lot of things. I am going to make a chicken with lemon caper sauce recipe tonight for dinner but won't post it because you don't eat meat. I highly recommend the Salmon Pizza w/marscapone from the Jan/Feb issue.

One of my favorite easy recipes is to take a couple of garlic cloves and saute them in a little olive oil, add tomatoes, cook until a little bit softened, add chopped basil and capers. Serve over pasta with a little bit of romano or crumbled feta.

[LGBurns]

There was a recipe for penne with green beans, sun-dried tomatoes and bread crumbs the September CL that called for capers. I have to admit that some BB people weren't thrilled with this recipe, but I really liked it and particularly liked the capers. The added plus is that it's vegetarian. I made it one time with whole wheat penne and one time with plain and I actually liked it better with the whole wheat.

[sneezles]

Here's a recipe from Epicurious that I made last week. I used 1 each of the peppers for color (and I love orange & yellow ones better) and I used anchovy paste.

PENNE WITH YELLOW PEPPERS AND CAPERS


Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 40 min
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 yellow, red, or orange bell peppers, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
1 large onion, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed and chopped
3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
12 oz dried penne (preferably ridged)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Accompaniment: grated parmesan

Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then add bell peppers, onion, garlic, and anchovy. Lower heat to moderately low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in capers and vinegar.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Add pasta to pepper mixture and toss, adding enough cooking water for sauce to coat pasta. Season with salt and pepper and toss with basil.

Makes 4 (main course) servings.


Gourmet
September 2000

[SandyM]

This is one of my favorites, from CL:

Penne with Spinach, Feta, and Olives

Substitute with ziti, rigatoni, or any other medium-sized pasta; use other types of olives instead of kalamatas for a less intense flavor.


Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 cups hot cooked penne (about 12 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)
2 cups chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons capers
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese


Directions
Estimated Total Time: 30 minutes

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Add pasta, spinach, olives, capers, and cheese; toss well.

[Terrytx]

Here's one I made this week that was good.


lsdesign
Member posted 03-27-2001 01:48 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chopped Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing
Salad:
6 cups chopped ice berg lettuce
2 cups sliced cuke
1 cup diced plum tomato
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced radishes
1 cup diced red bell pep.
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup fresh parsley
3 tlbs. capers drained
1 tsp. dried oregano

Dressing:
1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tlb. light mayo
1 tlb. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 black pepper

1. Combine first ll ingredients in a bowl.
2.To prepare dressing, combine buttermilk and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Just before serving, drizzle salad with dressing, and toss gently to coat. 12 servings
1 cup each

[AndreaU]

Thanks all! These suggestions all sound great. Pasta seems to be the easiest way to incorporate capers- just throw 'em in a sauce. I found my Sept. issue & the Penne, green bean, s.d. tomato, etc. recipe sounds great- I'll give it a shot, LGBurns. If even one person likes something, there's hope! I suppose I could have done a search myself, but I'm sure there would have been many recipes to check through, including a lot of meat-based recipes. These pasta recipes sound great- I look forward to trying them (all). As for the Chopped salad, I'm intrigued... especially since I'm not a big fan of iceberg lettuce. But I may give it a chance! Thanks again.

[LGBurns]

Oops! AndreaU, I forgot to tell you that I used commercial bread crumbs and found the recipe too salty with the amount of salt they use. Hope you see this in time--the second time I made it I cut out the added salt altogether.

[Andrew]

Capers in Tarter Sauce!!
Capers in any Italian Dish!

We just love capers : )

[Lynn B]

The Mascarpone/Smoked Salmon/Capers pizza! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
Lynn