Pickled Peppers

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Right here, in this glistening jar of garlicky, slightly salty crunchy sweet and spicy peppers. I'm salivating just thinking about them.

NUTRITIONAL OVERVIEW

GREEN CHILI PEPPERS are an excellent source of vitamin C. Just 1/2 cup provides more than the daily recommended for adults, who knew? No wonder I'm drawn to these when I'm feeling a bit run down, I thought it was the garlic I was after. They're also a good source of vitamin A which boosts your immune system and is essential for healthy eyes, skin and bones.

Raw GARLIC is hailed by many to be a super-food; preventing heart disease (by reversing plaque build up in arteries), cancer (believing it's a preventative due to it's antibacterial properties) and of course curing the common cold (antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties).

Is this straight-up medicine?

This isn't a complicated recipe by any means, it's just a little time consuming from start to finish because you need to leave the peppers to dry out a bit. I tend to cut and de-seed in the morning then finish them off in the afternoon, you could start at night and finish them off the morning.

Cut them roughly in to a size you'd like to eat with ripped up Arabic bread, in a wrap, on a baked potato...

I use 2 tsp salt to dry out my peppers but some prefer more, I suggest starting with 2 in your first batch and then adjusting for your next (and there will be a next).

This is after a day of resting with salt.

Spoon in a quarter of the peppers and crush one clove of garlic in, stir a little and add olive oil until just covered. Repeat until jar is full.

Make sure the oil covers all the peppers.

Recipe

Pickled Peppers

Try eating these with an Arabic breakfast of humous and foul and wholewheat Arabic bread or in a Mexican wrap with avocado, tomatoes and herbs. We also love them on top of a crispy baked potato, the garlic oil just does wonders!

MAKES 410ml JAR

PREP TIME 15 MINS + 5 HOURS WAITING | TOTAL TIME 20 +

INGREDIENTS

430g green chili peppers

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp white/cider vinegar

2 tsp salt

200ml olive oil (or enough to fill jar)

METHOD

Wash and dry peppers.
Cut and de-seed peppers. Cut in to small bite size pieces, whatever size you'd like really. Don't waste too much time on it.
Put chopped peppers in to sieve, sprinkle the salt over and shake to ensure all of the peppers are coated. Place sieve over a bowl or the sink and leave to sweat the water out (at least 5 hours).
Crush the garlic and marinade in the vinegar (this step prevents air getting to the garlic and creating a bacteria called botulism)
Fill a clean (sterilised) jar to the quarter mark with peppers and crush one clove of garlic in, stir to even out. Pour in enough olive oil to cover peppers.
Repeat step 4 three times until jar is full. Just make sure the oil completely covers the chilies as this is what will keep them pickled so they don't go off.
*Put the jar in the fridge and don't touch them for a few days.