I had a head of cauliflower that I had to use up and a few bell peppers, some homemade pickles and home made pickled serrano peppers. It seemed like Giardiniera was what I had to prepare. Since I used my already home made pickled serrano peppers my Giardiniera isn’t super spicy hot but does have heat to it. If you want your Giardiniera to be really hot you do need to use fresh hot peppers or a combination of fresh and pickled. After a few tastings I wanted the giardiniera to be a little spicier so I added a split hot banana pepper and in one day I thought it was a just right spicy. You are going to have to play around with the peppers the way I did to figure out how spicy hot you want this. This recipe make A LOT of Giardiniera….If you don’t can it then it will keep around 3 months in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for 30 servings

1 cauliflower – break into small florets

5 carrots – peel and slice

5 celery ribs – slice

1 red bell pepper – short slices

1 yellow bell pepper – short slices

2 home made pickles – cut into chunks

6 cloves garlic

1 cup home made pickled serrano peppers (or hot fresh peppers to taste) – sliced

4 cups. white vinegar

4 cups water

3 bay leaves

1/3 cup kosher salt

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon celery seeds

1 Tablespoon dried crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

The vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, celery, peppers, garlic) all get mixed together and either go into jars or sterilized containers.

The vinegar, water, bay leaves, salt, oregano, mustard seeds, celery seed, red pepper flakes go in a sauce pot and you bring it to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 5 minutes and pour the liquid over the vegetables. Leave out on the counter till it gets to room temperature. Then jar or refrigerate.

This will be ready to enjoy in about 1/2 a day. If you want it spicier add a split hot banana pepper will do the trick!

Enjoy!