Those small jars of pimentos in the grocery store that are either diced or sliced do not taste the same as my Grandma’s Pickled Pimentos. In fact, I don’t think anyone made pimentos that tasted as good as my grandma’s. I remember people always asking for her recipe at family and church gatherings. She would give out jars of them to family and friends, but as usual, she refused to give out her recipe. I remember my parents begging her to write her pimento recipe down probably the summer before she died. She finally relented and wrote down the pickling liquid ingredients. . .it was just a simple pickling solution.
My family continued to can her pickled pimentos as long as we raised a garden. Although, it did become harder to find the variety of pimento seeds/plants that they preferred. They did somehow manage to locate them or keep enough seeds to have a few of the short, square pimentos almost every year. Today, those pimentos are usually found in the heirloom seed collections of a few companies. Most of the pimento plants I find are of the “heart” shaped variety that came to dominate the market. While I also still prefer the squarish pimentos, I buy whatever plants I find for sale.
I should have mentioned that indeed pimentos are NOT just red bell peppers. They are a sweeter pepper that is lower on the Scovell scale than even bell peppers and are usually thicker-walled than bell peppers. They also take much longer to grow and ripen than most bell peppers. They won’t be ripe until the end of your growing season. If you can’t find them or haven’t grown any, you can use this recipe to pickle bell peppers instead…they won’t be exactly the same though.
While there is nothing special about the ingredients, maybe the technique enhances the flavor? Whatever the reason, I think they taste much better, albeit sweeter than those you can buy in a grocery store.
My grandmother and parents always halved or sometimes quartered the pimentoes to pickle them. We would cut them into desired sizes when we went to use them. I don’t know how they would be if cut into smaller strips or diced as jarred pimentos are sold commercially. I have only pickled halves, quarters, and sometimes sixths.
Grandma’s Pickled Pimentos
Ingredients
- pimentos
- 1 1 /2 c. sugar
- 1 c. water
- 1 c. vinegar, white with at least 5% acidity
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Cut pimentos in half and remove the seeds and membranes. Cut in half or thirds again, if desired.
- Stir to combine sugar, water, vinegar, and salt in a pot over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.
- Add cut pimentos and continue cooking until pimentos become pliable, but still relatively firm….a minute or two.
- Remove pot from heat.
- Pack hot pimentos into hot, sterilized 1/2 pint jars.
- Ladle/pour the pickling liquid over the pimentos leaving at least 1/4″ headspace.
- Remove any air bubbles.
- Clean jar rim and place a sterilized flat lid and adjustable ring on the jars. Hand-tighten the ring as much as possible.
- Process in a water bath canner for the USDA recommended amount of time for pickled pepper (currently boiling 5 to 15 minutes depending on altitude) for shelf-stable pimentoes or place in the refrigerator for shorter-term storage.
Notes
You can use this recipe to pickle regular bell peppers as well…red, yellow, and orange often have more natural sugars than green bell peppers, so they would work better. You will probably want to cut the peppers into smaller pieces than halves or quarters though.
Depending on the number of pimentoes you have to pickle, you may want to double or even triple the amount of pickling liquid. The recipe as written makes 2 to 3 pints of pimentoes.
To get the authentic taste of my Dad’s Pimento Cheese, you need to make it with Gussie’s Best Sweet Pickles and my Grandma’s Pickled Pimentos.