Gin pickled peppers - no cooking required!

We love craft gin so much and we love discovering new ways to enjoy it. From a perfect gin and tonic to a beautiful cocktail, you just cant’s go wrong with this versatile spirit! Our resident gin chef Carol has really put the botanicals in November’s Gin of the Month to work in this gorgeous pickled recipe.!

Autumn is well and truly here, and winter just around the corner. I do enjoy the cooler months with roaring fires and comfort food.

Which brings me to this month’s recipe: sausages with Filska pickled peppers. Nothing can beat a beautiful, meaty, good quality sausage. Not the flabby, pale pink monstrosities you find at the cheap end of the market, but wonderfully seasoned, plump, meaty bangers made with ethically reared meat.

This month’s recipe uses the botanicals from Shetland Reel Filska Gin, together with red grapefruit juice and a dash of the gin itself, to ‘pickle’ sliced red and yellow peppers to serve with the sausages. It is also remarkably easy, as no cooking is required!

This is not a true ‘pickle’, as it does not contain vinegar as a preservative, and so should be kept in the fridge and used within two weeks. It is equally delicious served with cold meats, pork chops or even a firm fish like swordfish, fresh off the grill.

Filska Pickled Peppers

Method:

Slice the peppers into strips about ½ cm thick, making sure all white membranes are removed. Peel, halve and slice the onion. Pop the sliced peppers and onion into a glass bowl.

Mix together the grapefruit and lemon juices, gin and seasonings in a jug, then pour over the pepper and onion slices. Toss the peppers and the onion in the liquid, then pack the vegetables vertically into a tall glass jar (a jam jar will do, so long as it is at least as tall as the pepper slices are long).

Pour over the liquor and spices to cover the peppers and onions. Put a lid on the jar. Allow to ‘pickle’ for 12 hours in the fridge, then serve with grilled sausages.

Remaining pickle needs to be stored in the fridge and consumed within two weeks.

Ingredients:

2 large red peppers
2 large yellow peppers
1 medium red onion
Juice of 2 red grapefruits
Juice of one large lemon
1tbsp salt
1tsp whole black peppercorns
1tsp whole coriander seeds
6 juniper berries, lightly crushed
50ml Shetland Reel Filska Gin