Pickled Sugar Snap Peas

These are my favorite pickles right now, and they’re SO easy to make, no sterilizing jars or anything.

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas

1 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar

1 1/4 cold water

1 tbsp kosher or pickling salt

1 tbsp sugar

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 or 2 dried chile peppers

1 pound (or about half a kilogram) of fresh sugar snap peas (not frozen and thawed)

Wash the peas and trim the ends. I do this quickly with a knife by gathering three peas together at the tips and slicing, then turning them around for the other ends. This is the most time consuming step, but one not to skip. If you don’t your pickles will be unpleasantly pointy.

Combine vinegar, salt, and sugar. In a non-reactive pan (non-reactive means glass or stainless steel, otherwise the vinegar will eat the pot), heat till the salt and sugar dissolve. This only takes about five minutes. I like to turn a burner to high, add the pot, and then turn the burner off. After the salt and sugar are dissolved, add the cold water. Cool the liquid in your fridge.

Pack peas into a 1 quart jar with the chiles and the sliced garlic, and pour brine over. Cover, and store in the fridge. These pickles can be eaten as soon as 24 hours later, or stored as long as two weeks before eating. If your peas aren’t the freshest (maybe a little rubbery), don’t worry, they will crisp as they pickle.

If you don’t have a jar, you can also pour the peas into a glass or ceramic container and pour the brine over, and then cover with plastic wrap. I’ve done this every time and it works fine.

This recipe comes from smittenkitchen.com