One of the many things Jews and Persians have in common is a love for pickles.  Not just cucumber pickles, but pickled vegetables of any sort.  This recipe celebrates both our pickling heritages and the garlic and tomatoes grown in my garden earlier in the year…

The recipe comes from The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafia, torsh-e sir. It is a real treat! If you are interested in buying her cookbook, click here.

The recipe, as written, is for 1 bulb of garlic, but it can be multiplied for however many bulbs you want to pickle. I will have to restrain myself from making these pickles with all the rest of my garlic.

Garlic & Sun-dried Tomato Pickle

 from The New Persian Kitchen by Louisa Shafia

1 head garlic, separated into cloves (from the garden)

1 or 2 dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes, torn

1/2 tsp organic cane sugar

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Red wine vinegar, to cover

Directions

Prepare a bowl of ice water and bring a small saucepan of water to boil.  Drop the garlic into the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes.  Drain and immediately immerse into the ice water.

When cool, pull off hte skins.  Sloce off any brown or broken spots, and place the garlic in a clean glass jar.

Add the sun-dried tomatoes for the garlic, followed by the sugar, honey, and Kosher salt.

Add vinegar to cover, seal and shake to dissolve the sugar, honey and salt.

Store in the refrigerator.  The pickles are tasty within a few days, but will be really flavorful in 2 weeks.  When serving, remove portions with a clean spoon.

The pickles will last for about 6 months in the refrigerator and acquire a more intense flavor with time.

Makes 1 cup.