This Simple Sweet and Spicy 15-Minute Giardiniera recipe is packed with onions, peppers, fennel, olives, garlic and herbs – making it a great topping for sandwiches. But honestly they’re so delicious, you might find yourself snacking on them straight out of the jar. So, the fact that you can whip up a batch in just 15 minutes is probably a good thing.
Jump to RecipeA fondness for fennel and underdogs
I can’t recall the last time I binge-watched a television show into the wee hours of the morning, but I simply couldn’t pull myself away from “The Bear” on Hulu. You are immediately dropped into the chaos lived by Chef, Carmen Berzatto, who has left a prestigious culinary career in NYC to return home to Chicago to save his family’s failing restaurant. But the story is more complicated than that. Carmen has inherited the sandwich shop from his brother who has died by suicide.
You feel the weight of it all – this character who is wrestling with the pressures of strained family relationships, mountains of debt, a volatile crew that is resistant to efforts to implement best practices and elevate the restaurant’s menu, and the crushing weight of his own grief.
The writing serves up a hefty portion of raw emotion, and the language is as bombastic as the events that unfold throughout the show. But it works in an unforced way. Don’t let any ugliness dissuade you from watching. There is passion and creativity and beauty. Fear, anger and brokenness are palpable, but there are also powerful moments of self-discovery, growth and healing woven throughout the season. You feel like you are journeying with the characters through it all. Like Carmen and his kitchen family, you have to resolve to see it through to get to the good stuff.
Sometimes we draw inspiration from the most interesting places. In terms of this recipe for Simple Sweet and Spicy 15-Minute Giardiniera, I just happened to find inspiration in a scene about the condiment itself. Chef – I was with you the moment you said, “fennel”.
So, what’s in this recipe for Simple Sweet and Spicy 15-Minute Giardiniera anyway?
One of the things I love about food is how you can easily find the common threads between cultures. Every culture has its version of chicken soup for the soul, flat breads, dumplings or pickled vegetables.
I grew up knowing pickled vegetables by two names. When my dad was in the room (and when it consisted of onions and jalapeños) it was Escabeche. However, when my mom was present and the onions were joined by carrots, bell peppers or other vegetables, it was Giardiniera. What really baked my noodle as a young adult was the first time I tasted Southern Chow Chow. The vegetables were chopped much finer, but I could taste the similarities even then.
As for this recipe for Simple Sweet and Spicy 15-Minute Giardiniera, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you call it. Whether it’s called Escabeche, Italian Giardiniera or something all together different– it’s all delicious!
In this Italian Giardiniera recipe, thinly sliced white onions, fennel, sweet peppers, Hungarian peppers, Manzanilla olives and garlic are packed into mason jars for a quick pickle. There’s no need to drag out the canning equipment for this recipe.
After the fresh vegetables are packed into the jars, a hot sweet and spicy brine consisting of water, white wine vinegar, sugar, salt, dried red pepper flakes, oregano and basil are ladled over the vegetables and allowed to sit overnight at a minimum. Two days is even better if you want to give the flavor more time to develop. The pickled veggies are still slightly crisp, tangy and absolutely delicious.
For those who like a little less kick, you can control the level of heat simply by adjusting the amount of red pepper flakes in the brine.
Although they serve Italian Giardiniera on Chicago-style, Italian Beef Sandwiches in “The Bear”, I pretty much like mine on any sandwich. If you want to learn more about Giardiniera, pickling, canning and fermentation, Amazon has a great collection of cookbooks on the subject that you may be interested in.
Simple Sweet and Spicy 15-Minute Giardiniera
Course: SidesCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy16
servings15
minutes10
minutesA quick pickle combination of onions, peppers, fennel, olives, garlic and herbs – perfect for topping sandwiches.
Ingredients
- For the vegetables
1 cup fennel, sliced thin
1 large white onion, sliced thin (approximately 2 cups)
1 cup sweet peppers, sliced thin
1/2 cup sweet Hungarian peppers sliced thin
3/4 cup sliced Manzanilla olives with pimiento
4 garlic cloves, peeled
- For the brine
2 cups water
2 cups white wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. – 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
Directions
- Clean and prepare either two 1-quart jars or four 1-pint jars. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, combine the water, vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper flakes and herbs and bring to the boil. As soon as the pickling mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and let stand until all the sugar crystals have dissolved – approximately 10 minutes.
- While the pickling mixture is simmering, slice the vegetables and pack them into the jars. If you are using pint jars, add one garlic clove to each jar. If you are using quart jars, place two garlic cloves in each jar.
- When the pickling liquid is done simmering, carefully pour it into the jars until the liquid covers the top of the vegetables. Cap and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
- See notes on garlic below.
Notes
- This recipe can easily be divided in half or doubled.
- A few words on the garlic in this recipe: 1. The garlic cloves used in this recipe give great flavor to the pickled vegetables, but remains very sharp. I recommend fishing out the garlic before serving to ensure you don’t bite into a clove of raw garlic. 2. Your garlic has turned greenish blue. Remain calm. This is a common chemical reaction between the garlic and the acid in the vinegar and will not impact the flavor or its integrity.
