Giardiniera Sott'Aceto

Back in the day- when I had teachers on my Christmas gift list, the kids and I would make their teachers a giardiniera.  Hey, I was sure they had enough coffee mugs!

This pickle is a quick and delicious way to use up a variety of fresh garden produce and the quantities are flexible: cauliflower, cukes, carrots, beans, green tomatoes, sweet peppers.  A great addition to the charcuterie table.

This recipe was adapted from "Preserving the Italian Way" by Pietro DeMaio.

I made 3 750ml and 4 1litre jars.


Ingredients:

1 lb        carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise
1 lb        celery, cut into 1/4 inch by 4 inch sticks
1 lb        green beans, cut into 4 inch diagonal pieces
1/2 lb     green cherry tomatoes, whole
1 lb        pickling onions, whole
1/2 lb     red, green, yellow sweet peppers, cut into strips
1 lb        pickling cukes, cut into 1/4 inch slices, lengthwise
1 lb        cauliflower, cut into florets
1.5 liters white wine vinegar
1.5 laters spring water
               whole peppercorns
 7 cloves  garlic
                bay leaves
2 tsp        pickling salt
1/4 cup    sugar

Directions:
In a large pot, bring two litres of water and two teaspoons of salt to a boil.  Add each of the vegetables separately and cook to the same consistency- still crunchy.  Remove from the water to cool.

In the meantime, mix the white wine vinegar and spring water, along with the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and sugar.  You could also add a few cloves, a scrape of nutmeg and 1-2 chillies- sliced.
Add salt to taste.  Boil for five minutes, then remove from heat.

Fill the jars with the mixed vegetables, then cover with the white wine mixture.  Wipe the rims, place the lids on the jars and water bath or steam bath for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!