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Pickled courgettes

One of my favourite side dishes. The squash is incredibly good at absorbing the flavours from the spiced vinegar brine and develops a lovely texture. It goes with everything from liver pâté sandwiches to stir-fried vegetable dishes, ragouts, or chopped into a remoulade or curry salad – just like pickled gherkins. You can easily use squash that have grown a little too large and pumpkin-like, and which have developed large seeds that can be scraped out. The large ones are actually best for pickling.

Ingredients

Squash
2 kg of squash or pumpkin, weight excluding any seeds and pulp
20g salt per kg of squash
Preserving liquid
1 litre apple cider vinegar
800g sugar
500g water
1 small bunch of thyme
2 chillies
1 large or 2 small onions
3 cloves of garlic
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tbsp whole peppercorns

See video guides here

Instructions

Preserving liquid

Make a stock using vinegar, herbs and spices: for example, thyme, chilli, peppercorns, bay leaves, onion and garlic.

Squash

Rinse the courgettes. Cut them in half lengthways and remove the seeds and the soft centre. Cut the halves lengthways again so that you have 4 long pieces. Slice the courgettes into slices about 3 mm thick using a sharp knife or a mandoline.

Squeeze out the moisture. Place the courgette slices in a large bowl, sprinkle generously with salt and toss them around. Leave them to stand for about 1 hour. Gently squeeze the moisture from the courgette slices without breaking them. Place them in a sieve to allow any excess liquid to drain off.

Sterilise the preserving jars with boiling water to ensure they are completely clean. Blanching and bottling. Blanch the courgette slices in the boiling brine for 1–2 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the sterilised jars. Pour the boiling brine over them to cover, and seal the jars tightly immediately. Store the pickled courgettes in the fridge. Unopened jars will keep for 6–8 months. Once opened, they will keep for approx. 1 month.