Zucchini Pickles

One of my very good friends told me that she had the most amazing zucchini pickles with poached eggs on toast at a cafe. So naturally that night I decided to try and make some zucchini pickles of my own. I've made them a few times now and they're always a big hit and they go with all kinds of things. It's a great thing to do with zucchini's at the end of the season (which is now in Australia). They also store in the fridge for a really long time although they usually get eaten pretty quickly. 

*You'll need to have sterilised jars for this recipe. If you have a dishwasher then that will sterilise them. If not you'll have to do what I do and boil them for ten minutes then dry them out in a very low oven. Or use your friends dishwasher.

INGREDIENTS

2kg zucchini

7 tbsp good quality sea salt

2 cups of organic raw sugar

4 cups of apple cider vinegar 

2 tbsp of dijon mustard

4 small onions

2 tsp of mustard seeds

1tsp of fennel seeds

1 tsp of caraway seeds

2 tsp of nigella seeds

DIRECTIONS

makes about 4 jars depending on jar size

Firstly ribbon your zucchinis. I just use a vegetable peeler to do this but you could use a mandolin or a food processor. then cut your onions in half, lengthways and then thinly slice them into half rounds. Place in a bowl, add the salt and massage it in, leave for 10 minutes. Meanwhile place the remaining ingredients into a pot and bring to the boil. When boiling reduce to medium heat and simmer for five minutes. Set aside to cool.

Strain your zucchini and onions and rinse well under cold water. Leave them to dry between tea towels for five minutes and then pat them as dry as you can. Fill the jars with the zucchini, onions and pickling liquid. They're best left for at least 24 hrs but they're still pretty good strait away. Below, I've served them with sheep's feta and parsley on spouted kamut and spelt toast.

Enjoy!