A Giardiniera Recipe from a Cookbook Author, TikTok Star, and Chicago Native Homesick for the Classic Condiment

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When Hailee Catalano moved away from Chicago, she was disappointed to learn that the giardiniera she grew up with wasn’t ubiquitous everywhere. Instead of the flavor-packed, spicy mix of vegetables preserved in oil and vinegar she knew, all she could find was large pieces of cauliflower in vinegar.

“I didn’t know there was any sort of different giardiniera!” she says. Born in Chicago and raised in the western suburb of Elmhurst, she grew up eating Italian beef topped with Chicago-style giardiniera not just from establishments like Portillo’s and Johnnie’s but also made by her grandma at home. “She had a really good roast beef recipe and she’d make all the peppers,” Catalano recalls. But, “She bought the giardiniera.”   

Now Catalano has her own recipe for Italian beef – and for giardiniera, both available in her new cookbook By Heart: Recipes to Hold Near and Dear. She has recently found a brand of giardiniera closer to what she longs for on the East Coast, but she can also just make it herself when the craving hits. Try her version, featuring fennel instead of cauliflower, below.

By Heart features recipes that combine the influences of the Italian-American and other home cooking Catalano grew up eating with her own inspirations and lightly cheffy techniques she learned working in restaurants, while still remaining easily accessible to the amateur cook.

“I am from the Midwest, so I have a lot of those cozy, homey recipes, but with hopefully fresh twists and more culinary twists,” she says.

She first started sharing recipes on TikTok during the pandemic. She had worked at acclaimed restaurants in Chicago like Cellar Door Provisions and the bygone Dos Urban Cantina when she and her partner Chuck Cruz, also a chef, moved to the East Coast in early 2020 to try to get some experience in New York City restaurants with the goal of eventually opening their own place. When the pandemic shut down restaurants, she started making videos about coffee on TikTok as a way to channel her creativity outside a less-than-satisfying test kitchen job. (She had worked as a barista at La Colombe in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.)

Eventually she started incorporating her breakfasts into the videos and then expanding into other meals. “When I started getting a lot of followers was when I actually started cooking, which is kind of telling,” she says. “It’s like, ‘That’s obviously what you love to do.’”

Now she and Cruz make a living off their videos and recipes, which she has compiled in her cookbook. She’s going on a tour to promote it, stopping in Chicago to host a book signing at Lincoln Square’s The Book Cellar on April 23 and cook a dinner party at her old employer, Cellar Door Provisions, on April 22.

She and Cruz still might open a restaurant some day not dissimilar to the version of Cellar Door Provisions at which they both worked. “I would love to just have a daytime cafe of some sort, where we just change the menu to whatever we want, whenever we want, use seasonal ingredients, do some bread baking,” she says. “That’s always been my dream.” 

Chicago-Style Fennel Giardiniera

Excerpted from By Heart reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Hailee Catalano

Before moving to the East Coast, I thought all giardiniera was the same oily, spicy, tangy chopped vegetable mix that I grew up eating in Chicago. I was sadly mistaken when the only giardiniera I could find here was a much less-chopped, less-spicy, oil-free, pickled version. Although good in its own right, that giardiniera is far from the beloved Chicago condiment. This recipe substitutes the classic cauliflower with fennel for a slightly different—but still nostalgic—giardiniera, perfect for serving with the Chicago-Style Braised Italian Beef Sandwiches or on anything your spicy heart desires.

NOTE: The oil may solidify slightly in the refrigerator but will return to normal after sitting at room temperature for a few minutes or when added on top of other warm foods. As you use the giardiniera, be sure the sure the veggies stay submerged in the dressing by replenishing the oil as needed.

Ingredients

10 serrano peppers (about 6 ounces/170 g), stemmed and sliced
4 Fresno peppers (about 3 ounces/85 g), stemmed and small diced
1 medium carrot (about 4 ounces/113 g), peeled and small diced
1 celery stalk (about 2 ounces/57 g), small diced
1 medium fennel bulb (about 10 ounces/283 g), cored and small diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 dried bay leaf
1 cup (240 ml) unseasoned rice vinegar
3/4 cup (180 ml) olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Toss the serranos, Fresnos, carrot, celery, fennel, garlic, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.

2. Add enough cold water just to cover the veggies. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.

3. Strain the vegetables into a fine-mesh strainer or colander, discarding the brine. Rinse the vegetables under cold water. Transfer to a 1-quart (1 L) mason jar or similar airtight container. Nestle in the bay leaf.

4. Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and pepper in a small bowl until combined.

5. Pour the dressing over the veggies, packing them down so they are covered by the dressing and there’s about 1/2 inch (1 cm) headspace between the veggies and the lid.

6. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 days. The longer it sits, the better it will get.

7. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months (see Note).

This story has been updated to reflect that The Book Cellar event is just a book signing, not a talk.