“Giardiniera” means “garden” in Italian and it’s more of a style than a specific recipe. However, almost always, Giardiniera seem to have some combination of cauliflower, celery, carrots, and sometimes even tomatoes pickled together.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 5 | stalks celery |
| 3 | carrots |
| 1 | red bell pepper |
| 2 | jalapeños |
| 3 tbsp | salt (2 tbsp for salting the vegetables overnight, and 1 tbsp for the brine) |
| 1/4 tsp | coriander seeds (per jar) |
| 1/8 tsp | mustard seeds (per jar) |
| 1/8 tsp | fennel seeds (per jar) |
| 1/8 tsp | black peppercorns (per jar) |
| 1/8 tsp | hot pepper flakes (per jar) |
| – | pinch of celery seed (per jar) |
| 1 | clove of garlic (per jar) |
| 2 tsp | extra virgin olive oil (per jar) |
| 2 cups | white wine vinegar |
| 2 cups | water |
To make three (3) 12 oz jars of pickles, you want a total of 4.5 cups cut vegetables.
To prepare, cut all vegetables according to your preferred size: a smaller dice will give you more of a relish-like condiment or cut the vegetables slightly larger and it becomes the perfect antipasto.
In a bowl, place your chopped vegetables and add 2 tbsp salt, cover with water. Place a weight on top of the vegetables to submerge and refrigerate overnight.
Remove vegetables, drain, and rinse.
In clean jars, add your spices to the bottom of each jar: 1/4 tsp coriander seeds; 1/8 tsp mustard seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, hot pepper flakes, a pinch of celery seed, and 1 clove garlic for each 12 oz jar. If you have larger jars, adjust spices in proportion.
Add your vegetables to each jar, filling nearly to the top.
In a pot, bring water, vinegar, and remaining 1 tbsp salt to a boil and pour over vegetables until covered.
Add 2 tsp of olive oil to the top of each jar.
Allow to cool to room temperature, cover, then refrigerate.
