As I mentioned last week, we are crazy for Jeff Mauro lately. We saw this recipe for giardiniera on his show last year and we finally got around to making it. For whatever reason I thought it was going to be super hard to make. Not at all! You don’t even have to cook anything! If you cannot get giardiniera in your grocery store you can now make it all on your own.
Some of you ladies might like giardiniera but to me it is “man food.” I don’t eat it. Kelly doesn’t eat. My Mom doesn’t eat it. But Cliff, my Dad, my Uncles? They all go crazy for it. Your husband probably will too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Cliff puts giardiniera on nearly everything. Sandwiches, soups, pizza, pasta, steak. Even Chinese food. I always make sure that there is hot giardiniera in our fridge and an extra in the pantry. God forbid we run out of the stuff. Cliff likes his giardinera spicy but my Dad can’t handle the spice! They both enjoyed this version though. I just told my Dad to avoid the seeds. It really wasn’t that spicy though! They both really liked the homemade version though. It was much fresher tasting and it just looked better and more colorful than the jarred stuff we buy. I don’t know if I will always keep it on hand but I will definitely be making it more often.
Here is what you’ll need
Chop all the vegetables into tiny, bite sized pieces
Dissolve the salt in the water
Pour the salt water over the vegetables
Homemade Giardiniera
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 cup cauliflower
- 4 Serrano pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 cup water
- 2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Chop the vegetables into small bite sized pieces. I like to cut the carrots with a crinkle cutter. The peppers should be sliced into circles. Dissolve the salt in the water. Put the salt water, garlic, and vegetables into a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next day rinse the vegetables and transfer to a clean bowl. Add the oil, pepper, and oregano. Stir it up. Refrigerate overnight. Transfer to jars. This will keep in the refrigerator for about 2-3 weeks. This made enough for 2 large mason jars.
