These Pickled Peppers Will Bring Colors To Your Life! [Recipe]

These Pickled Peppers are definitely a staple in our home, and it should be in yours too! And why not? They bring vibrant colors to our dishes, they’re wonderfully fragrant, and they taste so good they are part of numerous recipes.

Enjoy These Pickled Peppers Anytime Of the Year!

Why pickles?

With food preserves, pickling is actually among the safest method, simply because the natural acidity from the vinegar prevents botulinum spores from germinating and releasing their toxins. So, we have to make sure that we’re using the vinegar with most acidity, the most common and the one I use is white wine vinegar, which has 6%. Or you can also use apple cider vinegar, which has about the same amount of acidity.

However, that only takes care of the Botulinum, there are still a number of other pathogens that could make us ill, so we’ll follow additional precautions to keep us safe.

When canning my pickled peppers, I always use small 250 ml jars to avoid excessive cooking of the peppers. This also prevents over-boiling of the pickling liquid. You see, vinegar evaporates faster than water, so you lose its protective properties if you over-boil.

Great, let’s pickle!

To start, make sure the peppers and basil leaves are thoroughly cleaned, remove the stalk, seeds and white filaments. Some people are OK with having the seed, but I personally prefer to remove them.

Now, here’s a critical part to get the aroma and flavor that we want; you have to arrange the peppers so that they’re in an alternating layer with the basil leaves, black pepper, and fennel seeds. Pack them in tight, I’d usually tamp them down a bit with a wooden spoon to really compress them. Pour brine until peppers are completely submerged.

To complete the storing step, process jars for 20 minutes. Let jars cool, then check the seal.

After this, you can safely store your pickled peppers in your pantry and you’ll get to enjoy them even when they’re off-season.

Pair them with your chicken salad or soup for that delightful extra flavor!

Pickled Peppers

Recipe by Gillian Lightman

Ingredients

• 2.2 lb (1 kg) mixed peppers

• 2 1/2 cup (600 ml) white wine vinegar (with at least 6% acidity)

• 1 3/4 cup (400 ml) water

• 20 basil leaves

• 1 tbsp fennel seeds

• 20 grains black peppercorns

Directions

• Clean peppers thoroughly, remove stalks, seeds, white filaments and any dented or damaged parts.
• Cut them into folders or small pieces, ensuring they’re not excessively small.
• Wash peppers and basil well and dry completely on a clean piece of cloth.
• Arrange peppers into sterilized jars so that they are in alternating layers with the aromatic herbs and spices.
• Try to pack jars tight, but ensure a 2 cm (3/4 inch) headspace.
• Combine water with vinegar, then pour into jars until vegetables are completely submerged. Leave 1 cm (1/2 inch) of headspace.
• Close jar and let it sit for 1 hour.
• Check if the vinegar level dropped, add more liquid if necessary to ensure 1 cm of headspace.
• Process jars in pressure canner for 20 minutes. (adjust for altitude)
• Turn heat off then let jars sit for 5 minutes to settle.
• Remove jars and cool for 12- 24 hours.
• After 24 hours, check the seal on lid by pressing down the center, the lid shouldn’t wiggle and must feel nice and solid.