Giardiniera

@truffle_threads

These sweet, sour, tangy, crunchy, colourful vegetables are amazing to put on your antipasti board, serve as a side with your meat and fish, stir into your cous cous... you name it! Giardiniera truly is one my favourite pickles ever.  It's a great way to preserve vegetables when they are at their best and they are an amazing accompaniment to many different dishes. You can use the pickling solution too, along with some good olive oil to make an amazing salad dressing! And of course you can swap ingredients in and out depending on what's in season and what you prefer. 

Makes : 2 500ml jars 

Ingredients 

For the pickling solution: 
330 mL white wine vinegar
250 mL dry white wine
8 g salt
30 g sugar
6 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves 

Vegetables:
100 g carrots
100 g celery
100 g cauliflower
100 g fennel
100 g red bell peppers
100 g green bell peppers
50 g pink radishes
300 g courgette / zucchini 


Method : 

1. Wash very well all the vegetables and sterilise the jars and lids. Cut all the vegetables into 2-3 cm cubes and transfer into a large bowl. Cut the harder vegetables smaller and the softer vegetables slightly bigger as you’ll want to keep the crunch.
2. Now combine all the ingredients for the pickling solution into a large pot and bring it to a boil. As soon it starts boiling drop in all the vegetables, cover and cook them in the solution for 3-4 minutes. Make sure that all the vegetables are submerge in the liquid when boiling, if they aren't then simply top up the pot with some boiling water until the pickling solution is at the same level of the veggies. 
3. With a slotted ladle, once cooked, take all the veggies and place them back into the large bowl.  Pick the bay leaves and the pepper corn and divide them equally inside the pickling jars, do the same with the vegetables. 
4. Finally pour the hot pickling solution over the vegetables, ensuring they are fully submerged and leaving a 1.5 to 2 cm  headspace at the top of the jar. Close well and place the jars upside down until completely cool down.
5. Label each jar with the date of today. To ensure a safe and airtight seal once cooled, check the seal in each giardiniera by pressing the centre of the jar lid, if it doesn't pop back, the vacuum seal is successful, ensuring long-term preservation of your giardiniera. 
6. To enjoy the giardiniera at its best let it pickle for about 1 week before opening it.  However you can keep the giardiniera in a dark and cool spot for 1 year max and 3 to 5 days in the fridge after opening. Enjoy! ​

Watch the recipe video

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