There are not a lot of caponata recipes suitable for canning. Because it is a condiment that you eat "out of the jar" (at least I do) like salsa and it isn't heated, you have to be careful which recipe you choose. 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.

Newer version of Annie's Salsa - BWB only Annie's Salsa 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained 2 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper 3 to 5 chopped jalapenos (for milder leave out seeds and ribs) 6 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp cumin (optional) 2 tsp pepper 1/8 cup canning salt 1/4 c fresh cilantro (optional) 1/3 c sugar (optional) 1 cup cider vinegar (see note on subbing lemon or lime juice option) 16 oz canned tomato sauce (to adjust density) 8-16 oz canned tomato paste (to adjust density) Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process pints for 15 minutes in BWB. Makes 6 pints. _________ A lot of changes have been made to this recipe over the years. Some people like lemon or lime juice in place of some or all of the vinegar, that's fine. (Note from Sheila - I like half lemon half lime.) Some people leave out the cilantro, that's fine too. Do not increase! Some people add more hot peppers or fewer onions, fine as long as you keep the same total measurements. (Note this is what NCHFP does in their new Choice Salsa recipe.) Some people leave out the sugar, that's fine. You can scoop out the goo in the middle of the tomatoes with your thumbs when I'm peeling and chopping for a less seedy version, so it's 8 cups of chopped tomatoes without the seeds and goo. Most who make it regularly as well as Annie recommend using a variety of different slicing tomatoes, not paste types, for best flavor and consistency. (Note: use the tomato sauce and paste to adjust the consistency of the final product to a "sloshy" consistency.) According to Annie "My salsa is not as thick as Heinz catsup but it's thicker than taco sauce. If you don't like it quite as thick or sweet, cut down the amount of paste. I would add some, then taste. Reducing that ingredient shouldn't affect the safety of the recipe. I use equal amounts of sauce and paste. You can pull it off the heat at any point and adjust for flavor. Before I cook it I check for salt, sugar, check the consistency. Add more pepper or cumin if I want. When I first started making this salsa, tomato sauce and paste came in 8 and 16 ounce cans. Like everything else, they've now been downsized, so now I have to use partial cans." Does anybody have good versions of the other recipes that have weird symbols in them for measurements?

All I know is that the recipe here from Ball says not to add olives when water bath canning. I was taught that olives should not be added to foods and canned, not even in the pressure canner. I don't know Ellie Topps credentials when it comes to knowing food safety. If you want to know more, I would contact a Food Safety Scientist at a university. They will have more information about it than I do. Some university sites have a place to email questions. VEGETABLE ANTIPASTO Makes about 7 (500 m)l jars This antipasto recipe was specifically formulated to be processed safely in a boiling water canner. Do not deviate from the recipe ingredients and quantities as any change could affect the safety of the end product. 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) green beans cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) cauliflower florets, about 1/2 medium head 2 cups (500 ml) diced onion, about 2 large 2 cups (500 ml) diced green pepper, 2 medium 2 cups (500 ml) diced red pepper, 2 medium 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) diced carrots, 3 to 4 medium 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) diced celery, 4 to 5 stalks 2 cups (500 ml) lightly packed brown sugar 3 tbsp (45 ml) pickling salt 2 cups (500 ml) red wine vinegar 3 cans (each 156 ml) tomato paste 4 tbsp (60 ml) worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp (30 ml) hot pepper sauce 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups (500 ml) diced peeled eggplant or unpeeled zucchini 3 tbsp (45 ml) dried basil 1 tbsp (15 ml) dried mustard Prepare, measure and combine vegetables (including zucchini if using), except garlic and eggplant; set aside. Place 7 clean 500 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat water to a simmer (180F/82°C). Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and SNAP Lids hot until ready to use. Combine brown sugar, salt, vinegar, tomato paste, worcestershire and hot pepper sauce and garlic in a large stainless steel saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil. Prepare eggplant (if using); stir into hot sauce along with remaining vegetables. Stirring occasionally, return mixture to a boil; boil gently, 5 minutes to begin to soften vegetables. Remove from heat; stir in basil and mustard. Ladle antipasto into a hot jar to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre SNAP Lid on jar; apply screw band securely & firmly until resistance is met Âfingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner; repeat for remaining antipasto. Cover canner; bring water to a boil. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process Âboil filled jars  25 minutes.* When processing time is complete, turn heat off and remove canner lid. When boil subsides - bubbles no longer rise to surface (3 to 5 minutes) - remove jars without tilting. Cool jars upright, undisturbed 24 hours. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands. After cooling, check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. Note: Because antipasto is available commercially, many people believe they can preserve their own recipe at home. Most traditional antipasto recipes cannot be home canned safely in a boiling water bath canner. (However, some can be frozen successfully.) When the recipe adds low acid foods such as tuna (or other canned seafood), olives, mushrooms, vegetables and/or oil the resulting food mixture needs to be processed at temperatures higher than those that can be reached in a boiling water canner. These higher temperatures are essential to avoid the risk of deadly botulism poisoning. Processing filled jars of homemade antipasto in a pressure canner is unsuccessful because the temperature/time combinations required to eliminate the risk of botulism destroys the integrity of the vegetables resulting in a product that is almost spreadable. This Vegetarian Antipaso recipe has been specially formulated and tested to allow low acid vegetables (with added vinegar) to be processed safely in a boiling water canner. It yields a product with a well-balanced flavour and varied texture. Do NOT alter ingredients or measures. When ready to serve, to make a traditional antipasto, toss the contents of a jar of Vegetarian Antipasto with tuna, salmon or shrimp and add your personal finishing touchesÂmushrooms, olive oil and/or olives. Or, just serve this delicious Antipasto on its own. It`s delicious as a spread, dip or appetizer.

You are getting worked up about generalized "rules" instead of considering reason. Like the "rule" concerning oil - things are canned with oil all the time - soups with meat, salad dressings, chili, I even canned some olive oil pickles one time from an approved recipe (it just had a little oil). The biggest concern I have when dealing with oil in a recipe is ensuring I clean the lip of the jar as much as I can before placing the lid. And your comment about "low acid veggies," something that makes up most pickle and relish recipes, and just about all get no more than BWB... just like those recipes, vinegar or another acid is used to reasonably increase the acidity as appropriate for canning at BWB temperatures. Think of something like ketchup or salsa, both of the pickling concept, and not all that different from caponata. And we all really WANT salsa to be thick - so it doesn't just run off our chips. I've even made a salsa roasting peppers and onions with a small amount of oil (like the caponata), and it is never a problem. When I'm doing pickling, I usually consider that I can include just about any vegetable combination, so long as my overall quantity is right, so long as my acid amount (vinegar, lemon or lime juice, etc.) is appropriate for the given quantity of vegetables. I stick with approved recipes, but what is coming from my garden at any given time does not always perfectly align with a recipe. So if I include more hot peppers in place of sweet peppers, or add in squash in place of cucumbers (or even an under-ripe watermelon), or include some green tomatoes, or some extra onions, or some okra - these are all low acid vegetables, and the acid that is being added, or sugar in some types of recipes, is designed to properly preserve the combination. So keep it in the fridge if you want, but if you properly canned it, how is it any different from the jar of Pace or Campbells in the pantry?