Hi Guys! I thought I would let you know about Italian Giardinera (or Jardinere as Jeff pronounces it). It's cauliflower, carrots, little onions, sometimes little green cherry tomatoes, sometimes green beans, but always fresh crunchy vegetables. They are barely blanched and then pickled in jars with sprigs of fresh herbs like a bit or rosemary, oregano (left on their stalks so they can easily be discarded later). The veggies are cut up into bite sizes and they are served as a part of an antipasto - but they are not an antipasto in and of themselves. Antipasto - literally means "before the pasta" - or what you would serve as a first course or primo piatto. There are pickled veggies, Italian cold cuts, cheeses, maybe some mesclun greens or arugula, artichoke hearts, olives, etc. and you would always have a nice crusty Italian bread along with this and some wine. Kind of the Italian version of Salade Nicoisse. This course's deliberate variety is supposed to be what opens the palate and awakens the taste buds for the courses to follow.
In the Mid West they put giardinera in sandwiches - something that would
never be done on the East coast - or in Italy.
Thank you for joining the RFF "Italian Cooking with Artzy" minute - brought to you by the insanity that causes us to become fixated by BB.