What a wonderful Saturday in cool, overcast Seattle. (It’s actually great to have a brief break from the summer heat.) We started early with a 4-mile walk along the east side of Lake Washington and then shot over the 520 bridge to scope out the fresh produce at the University District Farmers Market. By 10:00 A.M., the market was swarming with purposeful shoppers.
What struck me this week were all the “baby” veggies. One vendor had her large variety of summer squash tagged as “infant” zucchini and “youngster” patty pans. Another vendor had turnips the size of a marble. The carrots were so young and tender they were practically screaming, “Eat me now.” There were even baby shallots, as small and tender as green onions.
Needless to say, I got carried away. Can you blame me? With nothing in mind to purchase, other than fava beans, I somehow ended up with baby carrots, baby turnips, young garlic, baby chiogga beets, green beans, purple beans, yellow wax beans, fresh dill, cauliflower, broccoli, basil, and an armload of gorgeous fuchsia asters. And the fava beans as well.
Then MauiJim asked the one question I have repeatedly asked him NOT to ask. You know, the “What are you going to make with all that?” question.
An Italian soup came to mind. Something very fresh and immediate in which each vegetable takes center stage in turn. Then something shifted and I heard myself say, “Stop at the store on the way home. I need a gallon of vinegar.” The image that had just jumped into my mind was of a large glass jar filled with my entire veggie stash, covered with a sweet/sour/mustard/garlic/dill brine. Pickles! But not just any pickles, Italian pickles.
In short, Giardiniera (jar dih nair ah), which means “gardener” in Italian. (Check out the audio pronunciation.) Never mind that I had never made this Italian pickled vegetable medley before.
Once we got back to the OtherWorldly Kitchen, research on the web began. Recipes for Giardiniera are all over the place. Most of those I surveyed specify a simple vinegar, sugar, salt, and water brine but some add oil as well (especially the famous Chicago Giardiniera). Most say to boil the vinegar and spices for a few minutes before pouring it over the raw veggies. So far, so good.
But some say to cool it before pouring over the veggies, or pour it boiling hot over the veggies, or cook the veggies in the boiling brine for up to 15 minutes. I also found a recipe that called for cooking each veggie separately in boiling water for 1-4 minutes to tender-crisp, draining, drying with kitchen towels, and THEN adding the lot to still warm brine. That’s quite a bit of variance and each technique will affect the crunchiness (or lack therof) of the veggies.
For my first test, I decided to use as simple a process as possible and sequentially blanched each of the firmer veggies in the boiling brine for 1-2 minutes only. However, even a short blanching period proved to be excessive. I can now confidently recommend simply pouring the boiling brine over the raw veggies layered in heatproof jars. There is enough residual heat to lightly blanch almost any veggie you might choose. Pickles should be crunchy, not flabby.
I discovered a couple of other things as well. Namely that broccoli does not make a great pickle. It turns a dreadful color in the brine, as do purple beans. I’m also removing roasted, peeled beets from my original list of possible veggie choices. While it makes a lovely pickle on its own, it colors the brine pink, when what you really want here is crystal clear.
Giardiniera: Italian Pickled Vegetable Medley
You will want to have this wonderful fresh pickle in your frig at all times. It’s a sparkling addition to almost any sandwich and a great antipasto as well.
This makes a rather large amount of pickled veggies, but they will keep (and actually get better and better) for 1-3 months in the frig. (You can of course half the recipe if you wish.)
This brine is only mildly sweet. Do feel free to adjust the sugar and salt level to your own preferences. I have seen numerous Giardiniera recipes that specify twice this much sugar.
Brine
3 quarts distilled vinegar
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
Veggies
4 quarts of some combination of the following (trimmed, and sliced, diced, or chunked into nibble-size pieces as desired):
cauliflower (I used 2 cups trimmed floret’s; 8 ounces)
romanesco
green beans (I used 2 cups trimmed; 4 ounces)
yellow wax beans (I used 2 cups trimmed; 4 ounces)
baby carrots (I used 2 cups trimmed floret’s; 8 ounces)
fennel (I used 1 bulb, sliced; 6 ounces)
baby turnips (I used 1 cup trimmed; 5 ounces)
button mushrooms (I used 2 cups trimmed; 7 ounces)
red bell peppers (I used 1 large, stemmed, ribbed, seeded, and chunked)
yellow bell peppers (I used 1 large, stemmed, ribbed, seeded, and chunked)
orange bell peppers
green bell peppers
Japanese or English cucumbers (I used 2 Japanese cucumbers, sliced; 6 ounces)
pearl onions
celery
Plus one or more of the following, if desired:
1 cup green olives
1 cup black olives
16 small sprigs fresh dill
8 garlic cloves, optional
2-4 small red jalapeno or Serrano chiles, optional
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, optional
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, optional
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
fresh cracked black pepper, optional
- In a large, nonreactive pot (I used a Le Creuset enameled, cast iron soup pot), combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt, and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the primary veggies into a large heatproof glass bowl or layer into tempered glass jars. If using jars, be sure to evenly distribute any of the additional ingredients you may choose to use.
- Pour the simmering brine over the vegetables and weight down if possible to keep the veggies submerged in liquid while the brine cools.
- When cool, cover and refrigerate until needed.
Fills 6 pint jars.
Cookin’ with Gas (inspiration from around the web)
- lauriebot: a grown up girl blog: Dilly of a Pickle
- Married with Dinner blog: A Gardener’s Pickle
- thepauperedchef blog: Giardiniera
- wegottaeat blog: Giardiniera, Chicago Style
- epicurious: Hot Italian Giardiniera
- smitten kitchen: giardiniera
We visited Washington State last summer & I fell in love w all of the green, flowers & produce. This is something I could happily eat every day.
Gwen, yes Washington is a gorgeous state, as is Oregon, where I now live. They both have fabulous farmers markets and awesome restaurants. Come back soon. 🙂
This is so gorgeous. It turned out fabulous. You did a wonderful job. I can’t wait to hit the farmers market next week. Travelling about 5 hours up north so I may hit a bunch of them on my way home.
Kim, so glad it worked for you. Love to hear that. 🙂
I just came back from our Farmer’s Market and this delicious post has inspired me to make Giardiniera. Love the beautiful colors coming from the veggies – how delightful!
Abigail, you’re going to love this. 🙂
Those veggies are gorgeous! I’m going to the farmers market now and will be looking for some squash. I’m trying to preserve more food and will definitely be trying your recipe!
Kathy,thanks so much! -)
I was seriously just wishing last night I had some Giardiniera in the fridge–thanks for sharing!
Kristen, I love having it on hand. 🙂
I love all the ingredients here from the olives to the veggies! This looks so vibrant and colorful!
Thank you, Florian! 🙂
I’m so very envious of your farmer’s market. What a glorious variety of beautiful produce. Pinning this – and thank you for introducing me to pickled vegetables. 🙂 Have a lovely holiday weekend!
Thank you, Cristina! 🙂
I read through the recipe and I have a suggestion:
I don’t think cooking anything with vinegar in cast iron is a good idea! I use stainless steel!!!
Thalia, you missed ENAMELED cast iron, such as Le Creuset. 🙂 Stainless steel is also great. Thanks for stopping by…
Instead of refrigerating this, can this be done with a water bath and canned?
This is a favorite for a summer lunch! Delicious.
This is a great way to use all of the wonderful summer vegetables. Lovely.
Nice pickled mixture!
Thank you for giving ideas.
Thanks so much! 🙂
My grandmother quite often pickled veggies and even some fish. Giardiniera was her specialty. I have yet to pickle anything other than eggs! Your photos are outstanding! So crisp that I can taste the vegetables from here.
Kathy, you should make this your first pickle. It’s so easy! Sounds like we had the same grandmother. 🙂
I could eat those every single day! Thanks for doing the experimenting so we don’t have to, as well. I don’t think the beet thing would’ve occurred to me–but of course, it makes perfect sense!
Elle, every day? Oh heck, we’re eating them at every meal. So I can have a double scoop of your amazing ice cream now. 🙂
Hi; I’m the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics, a community site for those of us obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It’s sort of like Tastespotting but specific to the niche. I would love for you to post your gorgeous giardiniera on the site! Cheers.
Sean, thank you for your kind invitation! MauiJim submitted the Giardiniera earlier today. Can’t wait to prowl your site.
exactly like your title – summer in a jar! the photos look amazing =D
My grandmother always put up vegetables and fruits which we had all winter long. Love this idea and the pictures, looks great!
Patricia
Thank you, Patricia! My grandmother grew on on a Mennonite farm in North Dakota. She was a fabulous cook and the dinner table always contained numerous pickles, relishes, and other sweet/tart or tart/tart vegtables and/or fruits. She passed on several years ago, and now I find I am very nostalgic for everything pickled. I’m happy to see the Giardiniera are a big hit with MauiJim and Jumpin’ Josh. 🙂
I’ve only recently discovered the joys of pickled veggies on my sandwiches… and might I just say, MY LIFE HAS NEW MEANING.
That said, I’ll be trying this very very soon, because my pickled veggie habit is getting a wee bit expensive.
Carter, LOL! I am already eating these and they haven’t even mellowed yet. What a great way to get your daily veggies, eh? 🙂
Thank you, much appreciated!