Ingredients
1kg zucchini
3 onions
20g salt
2 C raw sugar
3 C white wine vinegar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp dill or celery seeds
*1 red pepper in original recipe but we haven’t included it here
Summary
How have we not posted a recipe for zucchini pickles until now?! Surely we are all well and truly smothered in curcubits, whether they be in our veggie boxes, in our gardens or left hopefully on our doorstep. Recently we were forwarded this old CWA zucchini pickle recipe, which made us realise we didn’t have one posted in this collection! Zucchini pickles (and of course, these are also great with little squash too) are so tasty in your ploughman’s lunch or office sandwich, and it’s simple to make a couple of jars at a time to deal with a steady, continuous zucchini supply.
This CWA recipe is attributed to the Mortlake branch, originally submitted by Jean Edwards. A well worn, tried and tested recipe if ever there was one!
CWA zucchini pickles
Slice your zucchini and onion whichever way you want. A mandolin makes for easy processing (and nice thin rounds) but isn’t essential. Combine in a bowl with salt and leave for at least 3 hours to extract excess water. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a pan and bring up to heat to dissolve the sugar. Give it a little stir.
Gently place your zucchini in a clean, sterilised jar and carefully fill with your hot liquid. Fill the jar(s) to just below the lid, ensure the lids are on well before sealing them with water bath.
Pop a tea towel or upturned bowl at the bottom of a deep saucepan, add the zucchini jars and cover the jars in cold water. Bring the water up to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool in the water.
Once jars are removed from the water bath, check to make sure each lid has sealed itself properly – the lids should be sucked in. Sealed jars will keep for an unspecified *long time* – enjoy them in the off season once the glut is over!
Going to make this
It’s a winner. Let us know how you go!
Great to find a simple and delicious recipe to use up all the zucchini’s provided by my garden. Everyone who has had it just loved it. Yum!
do you mean sterilise the empty jars in a water bath, or water bath the filled jars?
Have made that a little clearer, apologies! But yes, you’d water bath the filled jars so they keep!
Omg, so tasty, great with cured meats, corned beef and Xmas ham
The boxing day sandwich essential!
I’ve looked everywhere for the dill/celery seeds but cannot locate any, so I’m going to use pickling spice instead. I’m sure they will be tasty. If anyone who lives in SA knows where I can find them please let me know.
Pickling spice works well, it just has a few extra ingredients so it’s a more complex flavour. Fennel seeds or Carraway are a good alternative too!
This is a winner, great with pickling spices, lost count how many jars this zucchini season.
Hi looks like a great recipe – and just wanted to check about the jar lid? Does it go into the boiling water with the jar?
c
Hope you enjoy making this Cate! Just make sure your lids are sterilised along with the jars (you can wash then boil in water/heat in oven, or pop through the dishwasher on a high heat setting). Once the jars are clean and filled, seal tightly with the lid and then submerge all the sealed jars you’ve made with a water bath – this is extra insurance for a long shelf life. Does that help?