Giardiniera cheese slices

Prepare the giardiniera: place 1/4 to 1/2 cup of giardiniera on a cutting board. With a paper towel, dry off some of the excess oil from the giardiniera, trying to remove as much as possible because extra oil might make your cheese not set properly. After the pickled veggies are dry, chop them into very fine pieces.  

Giardiniera cheddar cheese slices: add a greased or Silpat lined sheet pan to your oven on its lowest setting. Mine is 150 F.

Add water to a medium-sized pot and bring to a simmer. Add sodium citrate and stir to combine.

Slowly add all the shredded cheese, stopping to stir the cheese into the sauce after every handful. Once all the cheese is added stir very well while the cheese is still simmering to make sure it is very smooth.

Add the finely chopped giardiniera and stir again to incorporate it thoroughly into the cheese sauce.

Once the giardiniera is fully mixed in, carefully pour the sauce over the warm sheet pan and shake the sheet pan to allow the sauce to spread out. You may need a knife or offset spatula for this. Once the sauce is in a consistently thin layer, cover the cheese with wax paper and move it to a refrigerator to cool.

Once the cheese is fully cool, you can carefully remove it from the sheet pan and slice the cheese into 3.5-inch squares or whatever shapes you desire. To store the cheese, place a piece of parchment or wax paper between each slice and store it in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.