Sipping from the Heel - Southern Italian-Style Marinated Vegetables

Week 2 of the Puglia Online Culinary Tour: Southern Italian Marinated Vegetables Recipe

At a restaurant in Puglia, the antipasto della casa can include anywhere from 7 to 12 unique plates. These antipasti are always surprising (you never know what the chef will feel like sending out), and the first part of the Puglia Online Culinary Tour will focus on these appetizers.

This dish of marinated vegetables is one of my favorites because it's flavorful, easy to prepare, and easy to adapt if you want to make enough to eat for a week. Marinated vegetables can be eaten plain or added to sandwiches.

Ingredients:

2 lbs veggies (zucchini, squash, or eggplant)

1.5 c vinegar

3 cups water

olive oil

1/2 head garlic

oregano

salt

Directions:

1. Slice veggies about a quarter inch thick, then sweat weighted down for 2 hours. Chop all garlic and put in the container you will use to store the marinated veggies (I use Tupperware).

2. After 2 hours, bring water and vinegar to a boil in a large pot.

3. Boil veggies (as many as will fit in the pot) for 4 minutes. Do this for several rounds, placing the par-boiled veggies in a colander as you go.

(OPTIONAL) For grill marks, boil veggies for only 2 minutes then grill on a stove top grill for 2 minutes, turning once.

4. Place veggies in a colander and press for another 4-24 hours.

Get the container that you're going to store the veggies in. Layer the vegetables, adding the garlic, oregano, and salt as you go - QB. Pour a hefty amount of olive oil, vegetable oil, or a mixture of the two so that the veggies are almost covered. Let marinate for 24 hours, then feast.

Next Tuesday, we'll take on the tried and true side dish, Roasted Vegetables. If you begin with good quality produce, a more simple and delicious dish is hard to imagine.