Hot and Spicy Italian Giardiniera

Fancy red, orange and yellow bell peppers were on sale last weekend, so I decided to make a batch of giardiniera. This is a spicy-hot and very tasty condiment for just about anything. I discovered this condiment while on a business trip to Chicago many years ago. I love this for hot dogs and burgers.

My version, pictured above, includes an "experimental ingredient" - some sliced, under-ripe nectarines. I prefer nectarines over peaches even though they are very similar (no fuzz). I also used sweet purple onions, since that is what I had on-hand. As you can see, the color sort of washed out - but it dyed the cauliflower a little.

A search yields many recipes for giardiniera, and many are the same. Here is my variation, based on the version published on the all recipes site. Watch the tasty video to see how easy it is to make. Once you make this in your own kitchen, you will probably never buy it in a jar at the grocery store!

Nothing in this recipe is critical – choose vegetables that are either on sale or with nice color, or what you like best. You may slice, dice or chop them in large or small pieces. If you are short on time, or don’t like vegetable prep, you can take advantage of pre-cut carrot chips and similar items.

For even more time-savings, you can use a food processor to roughly chop the vegetables. If you use a machine, you can adjust the consistency to whatever you like, from very chunky to very fine. Personally, I like to roughly hand-chop the ingredients so I can see what’s what.

If you cut the veggies into large chunks you can enjoy this condiment as a spicy salad!

Here is a great how to do it video from all recipes.com

Ingredients - Vegetable Mix

2 Yellow bell peppers

2 Red bell peppers

8 Jalapeno peppers (you can adjust the "hotness" by including the membrane - or not)

1 Celery stalk

1 Medium carrot (I use "carrot chips")

1 Onion

1 Small cauliflower

1/2 Cup Kosher salt

Water

Ingredients - Dressing

2 Cloves garlic

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 Teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 Teaspoon black pepper

1 (5 oz) jar pimento stuffed green olives

1 Cup white vinegar

1 Cup canola or vegetable oil (don't use olive oil)

Regarding the oil note, even though the “olive oil fridge test” is not reliable, I prefer my giardiniera to not coagulate in the refrigerator. Some people heat the giardiniera when serving, this may cure this issue.

Let's Make Some!

• Chop, dice or process all vegetables.
• Pour the salt into a giant non-reactive bowl and add water. Stir until the salt dissolves.
• Add the veggies to the bowl.
• Add water to cover the vegetables.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, drain and rinse vegetables. Add the olives.
• In a separate bowl, mix together garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper and celery seeds.
• Add the vinegar and oil, and stir well.
• Taste the dressing and adjust to taste. I usually add more black pepper and pepper flakes.
• Blend the dressing with the vegetables. I toss the stuff around with my hands.
• Cover and refrigerate / store in jars.

This is a great side dish for beef and beef sandwiches. It's excellent on pasta or hot dogs instead of pickle relish.

Tags: # Giardiniera, #Condiments, #SideDish, #ItalianBeef, #Chicago

About Wayne Yoshida