Caponata (Mama Sasso's)

~Ingredients~
11/4 cups quality red wine vinegar
2 1/2 pounds eggplant
1/2 cup olives (green or black)
1-2 tablespoons capers
1 bunch celery diced (My Mom always uses white celery)
1 Spanish onion diced
3 ounce can tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste
Olive Oil for frying
~Directions~

Sterilize your jars & lids (I use the dishwasher) and set up a large pot of water for canning.

Set 2 saute pans up with 1/4  olive oil and the second with 3/4 cups olive oil.
Slice the eggplant leaving the skin on. Salt the eggplant and place in a colander with a heavy pot on top in the sink to allow some of the brown water to be released, this takes 30 minutes.
Rinse each piece off removing all the salt and dry well with paper towels.
Dice the eggplant into bite size pieces.
Fry eggplants in the first pan till golden brown.
Dice the celery and fry in same oil and discard this oil if any is left.
Saute onion in the second pan till it changes color.
Dilute tomato paste with a little warm water. Stir into the onion. Taste for salt and season if necessary, cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in the sugar, vinegar, capers, olives, eggplants and celery. Taste to see of if it needs more sugar.
Sprinkle with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and salt if necessary (taste to see) and simmer for 10 minutes.
Pack into the clean, hot small canning jars.  Seal and process in water bath for 20 minutes.
Let the cans rest for at least a week before eating to mellow out, believe me this part is a must, if you eat it right away it will taste way too sour!