Italian Zucchini Pickles

An abundance of zucchini from the garden in Italy has lead to various zucchini recipes in my past. I’ve made zucchini soup, zucchini relish, zucchini sauce, Katharine has made zucchini bread – both plain and chocolate – and I’ve even stuffed and fried zucchini flowers.

I love pickles! Pretty much anything pickled is good with me! A few years ago, I made zucchini pickles. Since I didn’t/couldn’t find some of the more traditional ingredients that went into “normal” pickles (celery or mustard seeds), I decided to do an Italian variation with some of the things I could find. They turned out fabulously and disappeared quickly. These are super easy to make and I love that you can prepare the brine while the sliced zucchini and onions are chilling. New batch coming up!

Note: This is a small recipe, which is great if you don’t have lot of space, or don’t need/want tons of pickles. You can double or triple the recipe if you want to make a larger quantity.

In the mood to try more preserving? Check out the Savouring Summer Corn Salsa!

(New to canning/preserving? Take a look at this useful how-to primer by Bernardin!)

Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 45 minutes (while chilling you can do the other steps) + 10 minutes water processing; Makes: 3 x 300 ml jars

What you need:

1 pound very firm zucchini, sliced 1/8 inch thick (use a mandolin for quick and uniform slices. I halved and quartered the zucchini end when it got too big)
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I had a red one in the garden, so I used that, but you can use white)
3 + 1 tbsp coarse salt
ice water
1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar (if using white vinegar, try 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 apple cider vinegar, as I find Italian white wine vinegar much sweeter than normal white vinegar)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

What you do:

Put your jars on a rack in a large pot of water, cover and bring to a boil, let boil for 5 minutes, then turn off heat
In a large bowl, add the thinly sliced zucchini and onions

Thinly sliced zucchini and onions in a bowl

Toss the zucchini and onion with 3 tablespoons of the coarse salt

Cover with ice water and let stand about 45 minutes

Cover with ice water, let sit 45 minutes

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of salt with the sugar, fennel, turmeric and chili flakes

Add salt with the sugar, fennel, turmeric, chili flakes to a saucepan

Add the vinegar and 1/2 cup of water

Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar
Turn off the heat
Add the sliced garlic

Let cool
Drain the zucchini and onion well (I used a salad spinner to spin dry)

Pack the zucchini and onion into the hot, sterilized jars (I used 3 x 300 ml jars)

Pack zucchini and onions into sterilized jars

Pour in enough brine to cover, to 1/4 inch of the top.

Pour brine to 1/4" from top, divide garlic and fennel — Pour brine to 1/4″ from top, divide garlic and fennel

(The garlic and fennel will be on the bottom, try to evenly split out amongst the jars)

Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles, and to stir the garlic/fennel into the zucchini pickles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue.