Preserving Vegetables for Antipasto

Now as we can buy vegetables and fruits out of season, flown in from round the world or grown hydrophonically, the need for preserving seasonal produce, seems less important. However buying out of season means you are paying huge amounts more and the produce often lacks true flavour. Then there are countless varieties of tinned and bottled goods lining supermarket shelves, the myriad gourmet produce stores and, the market stalls.

Doing it yourself will save you a great deal of money, give you a great range of goodies for the antipasto platter and that means that as a host, you are ‚ 'sempre pronto' (always ready to receive guests). It's fun to do though you must do it with scrupulous attention to hygiene . Care should be taken about how the preserved goods are stored and for how long.

Most vegetables can be preserved. They should be carefully selected for ripeness and texture and then washed well in water with a pinch of bi-carbonate of soda, then dried well.

They are then cooked in a vinegar mix (see below), then cooled and preserved in sterile jars filled with oil. Choice of oil depends on your taste and budget. Silvana says a good quality olive oil is best. Do not use vegetable oil. Extra virgin olive oil can be too expensive and too strong a flavour for the vegetables. It is important that the oil completely covers the vegetables.

Do not close straight away. Keep overnight. They will absorb some oil. Before you seal, make sure that the vegetables are completely covered by the oil. Seal the next day

After the jars are opened, it is best to use them quickly. Once exposed to air, bacteria can affect the vegetables.

VINEGAR

It's important to find the right vinegar. Both red and white wine varieties can be used. Italian vinegars can be very strong, so its important to find the taste which suits you.

Vinegar should never be boiled in an aluminium container. You must use stainless or terracotta. Glazed casserole containers s are not necessarily good. It depends on their quality. Some pick up the smells and hold them.

For each kilo of vegetables, use approx half litre of *red wine vinegar (plus a half glass of white wine) for each batch.

The vinegar can be used 2-3 times for different vegetables. However you need to check the taste as you go, to make sure that it has not lost its 'oomph'.

Boil the vinegar with a pinch of sugar (a teaspoon per half litre) then add a little white wine to smooth out the taste. You can do in big batches if you have a suitable pot. Some vegetables require a stronger vinegar taste than others. It's a matter of checking how much vinegar flavour they can support and not lose their vegetable character.

When using the same batch of vinegar for different vegetables, it is important to do them in the right order, according to flavour.

For example, you would do broad beans first, then capsciums and then artichokes last. Artichokes must go last because the bitterness of the artichokes will kill the vinegar and spoil the other vegetables. However, if you are doing artichokes after other vegetables, you will need to boost the vinegar content at that point, as they require more vinegar flavor than other vegetables.

After vinegar is boiled with a little sugar and some salt, the vegetables get added , brought back to boil and then taken off the heat. Do not keep boiling the vegetables (except for artichokes) as they will become too soft. Leave in the vinegar for a couple of minutes until flavour is absorbed. Each variety of vegetable requires different time in the vinegar according to their delicacy and natural texture ‚ asparagus take least time

*Use ROMANELLA RED WINE VINEGAR from Corcego Imports, Sth Italy.

Artichokes

For preserving the baby ones are best. They should be closed and firm. When the leaves start to open, then the 'moustache' the choke has started to develop.

Break off stalks and strip back leaves. Strip right back. Only use the heart

Get water and lemon juice and after you have cut the artichokes into quarters you put in water and lemon to stop them from browning. Needs a fair bit of lemon.

Put in vinegar and cook 2-3 minutes covered, need to check, depends on quality of artichokes.

You'll find that the open leaf artichokes will be cheapest at the market and can be sued for making risotto or spaghetti dishes. But for preserving, use the baby ones.

Asparagus

The very thin ones are best for preserving. Take off most of stalk, keep tips and just half way down. Cut all the same size, wash in water and bicarbonate of soda.

Bring vinegar to boil, add asparagus and leave for one minute only until the surface just starts to soften slightly. As they get cold, they keep cooking and soften

Broad Beans

The broad beans should have shiny skin and be tight inside, not too much air. Preferably organic because fertiliser distorts their flavour. Look out for ones with a tiny ridge of black across the top Broad Beans - are also delicious raw.

When first in season they are eaten after dinner with cheese, instead of a sweet. Some restaurants grow broad beans in back yard and just bring out and serve when first in season. Just a whole pile in shells. But for preserving don't use the very small ones because the vinegar takes over their delicate flavour. Best to choose large beans of which the pods are well packed, not with lots of air in between. The beans need to be big.

The vinegar for broad beans does not need sugar as they are sweet enough. Just put a bit of white wine with the vinegar and salt.

Boil 2-3 minutes. They will just start to split. After boiling, strain off vinegar and cool on cloth. Then put into jars.

Silvana says that her mother used to choose the ones with a tiny ridge oe black along the top. "Pickled broad beans with grilled pork steak are delicious , a beatutiful match"

Capsicums

Never do green and red capsicums together. They each have very different flavours. Silvana has never used the yellow variety much. Sometimes for roasting but not preserved.

Green capsicums, choose small ones and use whole in vinegar and salt.

Red capsicums, should be cut along the ribs in big pieces so that the flavour stays more integral.

Some people cut them small but this means they absorb more of the vinegar flaovur and lose the capscium quality. Scrape the inside of the skin. You may find a bit of brown inside which will come off. This is from the use of fertiliser. (where possible use organically grown vegetables) Remove he seeds but don't worry too much if a few remain, they wil sink to the bottom of the pot.

Red capsicums need a bit more sugar in the vinegar but less salt. Bring the vinegar to the boil, put the capsicums in and take off the heat. Do not let them boil. Leave in vinegar about 5 minutes. Dry and put under olive oil and herbs

You can also preserve red capsicums by roasting at high heat, peeling off skin and then steaming in a bain marie ‚ as you can with tomatoes to preserve. But they have to be cooked in a bain marie and they will then keep a long time, like the tomatoes.

Silvana's sister's method.

Eggplant

By preference use the Greek style, long and thin. Cut into small slices and keep the skin. Also use the big bulbous, pear shape which you peel and grate. For antipasto that is best. Following are methods for both types of eggplant

A: the big fat pear shaped one. Should be fairly firm flesh so does not break up. Wash it, peel and then cut into big chunks. Squeeze lemon over liberally. then coarsely grate (with normal cheese grater) and put straight under rock salt. Put more lemon juice. The eggplant has tendency to get brown and the lemon helps to prevent this.

After 24 hours remove from rock salt. Do not wash, just shake off the excess salt (some salt needs to remain) and then cover with vinegar and leave for 24 hours in red wine vinegar.

Then you strain and leave in a colander for a couple of hours to get rid of the moisture. After that you toss with oregano, raw garlic and chopped parsley (but I noticed once that the parsley does not hold for a month or more, so now I put in the parsley at the last moment just before serving) and oil.

Keep half a day and then put into jars. Does not need to be really covered with olive oil, just well tossed. Lasts months.

Note ‚ with other vegetables, they must be completely covered with oil. They need a few weeks to develop full flavour but whould then keep up to 6 months. It is essential that the jars are sterilised.

B: the long thin one. Use an automatic slicer to get very fine slices and salt over night. Then the next morning warm up plain wine vinegar (white or red) with a little bit of sugar. When the vinegar is boiled, turn off and I put the slice of eggplant without washing and keep overnight in the vinegar and then pull out, dry them out, then put in the jar with olive oil

Must slice the eggplant round, not length way, as thin as possible. Let's say 2-3 millimetre. Then if you want to preserve for years, you put in the jug and you cook in bain marie for half an hour and they will then last 3-4 years. I f you don't boil, they'll last a month or two You can also add some oregano and garlic if you want.

To Use Put straight onto antipasto platter. Or to make a piquant eggplant sauce - fry the preserved eggplant in butter. "It seems ridiculous to combine the taste of butter with oil, but it works . . . the smell of the butter heightens the flavour and is delicious with a plain meat. It makes a really distinctive accompaniment.

French Beans

Need to have good long ones, no blemishes and they must have the top and tail still on. Discard any which have already been cut.

If you have cut ones, then all the vinegar goes inside and the flavour is spoilt. Wash the beans in water with bicarb soda. This is important.

You must keep beans whole until you serve. Then you chop them. Check the beans as you sort them to make sure that the ends are not broken. It depends on the pickers. the professionals know how to do it. They get the beans entire, properly. Even for normal cooking the beans should be used whole, not cut.

Put into vinegar, add salt and boil up to 3 minutes , regular boil. As they cook, they pop, if they are not cut. You should cook them whole because it stops the water getting into the beans.

Take out and cool on cloths. They continue to cook as they cool down and get much softer quite quickly. They must stay crisp because as they cool, they soften and then in the oil they will get mushy (watch cooking time ‚ 3 minutes might be too long for some beans)

Place upright into jars and then pour over olive oil. Do not close straight away After taking out the veg. you can re-use the oil for more veg. again 2-3 times. If you use the vegetable oil, they get the smell of what is put in them, so can't be re-used so, although cheaper, you can't re-use as easily.

The beans and asparagus do without any flavour.(garlic or herbs etc.) Just put in jars standing up When you do pickle and fill with oil. Do not close straight away. Keep overnight. They will absorb some oil. Before you seal, make sure that the veg are down and covered by the oil. Seal the next day

Can do 2-3 veg in same vinegar. Just bring vinegar back to the boil. But after that it will lose strength as the juice of the veg goes into it.

To serve French beans, take out of oil, cut into small pieces and then add chopped garlic and mint to serve. Goes well with veal cutlets

Mushrooms

Button mushrooms, small and firm should be treated same way as French beans Large mushrooms treat like the eggplant. Use big flat, open ones, take off the skin, cut in thick slices thick and treat as per eggplant but with a little wine in the vinegar.

" Because mushrooms doesn't want too strong a flavour of vinegar."

Zucchini

Can be grated and prepared like eggplant but with less salt.

Cut the zucchini in little strips, take off all seeds inside. Only the hard part of the zucchini and keep the skin on.