Cauliflower Antipasti
Our peeps love this preserve! I make sure I keep back a couple of jars for our crew meals together, otherwise they fly off the shelves at the farm shop.
We make preserves when we wake up to a glut, and cauliflowers often come ready at unexpected times, or all of them at the same time. This is an excellent way to use up the rejects, and imperfect heads, where little corners have gone bad. I select out the good florets, and before I know it, there are 3-4 kg of caulis to process. Three kilos of raw cauliflower reduce and make about 10 jam jars of 350ml. If you have less, or more, adjust the rest of the ingredients’ quantities.
For more exciting recipes to preserve and ferment fruit and veg buy our cookbook My Vegan Farm Food: Stories and Recipes from Tolhurst Organic.
Cauliflower Antipasti
By Published: October 25, 2025
For this quantity you will need 10 jam jars of 350ml, with lids. Remember: if a lid has popped up, you must chuck away the contents, (or the contents will make you chuck).
Ingredients
- 3 kg cauliflower florets only
- 1.5 litres water
- 200 ml Cider vinegar
- 100 gram caster sugar
- 1 tbsp coarse salt
- 3 whole bay leaf
- 5 whole garlic cloves peeles
- 1 tbsp pickling mix peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds
Instructions
- Sterilise the jars in a dishwasher (short cycle), or in the oven at 70 degrees C, Gas Mark 2, for 10 minutes. Keep warm.
- In a large pan, heat up the water, mixed with salt, sugar, oil, vinegar and condiments. When the marinade starts simmering, add the cauliflower florets and simmer for 15 minutes on low heat.
- Using a jar funnel and small ladle, bottle the florets, and fill up the sterilised jars with the hot marinade.
- Seal firmly with lids and turn upside down so the hot marinade can sterilise the lid.
- When they’re cool enough for handling, wipe clean every jar, label and keep in a cool and dark place.
Remember: if a lid has popped up, you must chuck away the contents, (or the contents will make you chuck).
