PICKLED PEPPERONCINI

THESE ARE THE SIMPLEST THINGS to make. 

I found a box of small red peppers at the green market (about 15 to the box) for $3.00 and thought . . . pickled peppers. And so  . . . as promised, so you know what to do if ever you want to use them in corn caponata (previous recipe) or as an added treat to the olive and antipasto tray or just to eat by themselves as I so often find myself doing. And they're not terrible fattening and these sweet/hot little morsels certainly do leave a warm feeling in the gut!

12-15 small red peppers (with a tiny paring knife, cut a small slit in the pepper close to the stem but do not cut through)

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. Kosher salt

A mixture of pickling spices (cardoman, cinnamon stick, celery seed, bay leaf, nutmeg, black pepper corns, some curry powder, if you like, and cayenne pepper)

Bring the water, vinegar, sugar and spices to the boil and let the sugar dissolve completely. Add the peppers and turn the heat off. Allow to cool completely before jarring the entire contents in a sterilized preserving jar, but first remove the peppers and add to the jar and strain the juices into the jar (no spices or cinnamon stick in the jar, please). Make sure that the liquid completely covers the peppers by at least 1/2 an inch. Close the jars tightly and store in the refrigerator or process as you would with any canning project as follows: place jar(s) in a very large pot of water making sure the water covers the jars entirely by as least 1 inch. Bring to the boil and boil for 10-12 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow everything to cool in the pot. Remove the jars and wipe dry and store in a cool dry place. These will keep from 6 months to a year if they last at all. I like to marinate mine in olive oil before serving as antipasto but for the corn caponata, you can take them directly from the brine slice them up and add them to the pan with the juices and the seeds. 

Enjoy!