After 2 bumper years of courgettes and subsequent courgette chutney, this year was a bit different.
Ok – well it’s perhaps not as different as it looks.
I got carried away with photo filters pimping my chutney. You see it looked too much like every other jar of chutney. This year we were awash with green tomatoes. Meanwhile the courgette harvest was a bit mimsy.
I typed into Twitter “What shall I do with these green tomatoes” and at the very same moment Issy from Fennel and Fern Tweeted this recipe for green tomato chutney.
In the week it took me to get around to making this some of the tomatoes had actually turned red, so it took an hour or so’s simmering to cook out the juice and make it nice and gloopy.
It’s a simple recipe so if you have a stash of green tomatoes the quantities you need are in the comments below. It’s mainly stock cupboard stuff and I changed the quantities and ingredients a little to fit what I had in.
It tastes good already, but I am going to let it mature for a while for a treat later in the year.
UPDATE: It was really delicious, a rich aromatic chutney, great with a good strong cheese. The only thing I would change is that I would halve the cinnamon to 1tsp.
Things we make 
Trendsetters
September 16, 2010
great chutny..i have bought some mason jars myself,,,pprobably will try this for canning
thingswemake
September 16, 2010
Ingredients
2kg green tomatoes, each sliced or chopped in half if they are small
4 red onions
4 apples (cookers are best, but use any earlies which might otherwise go to waste)
450g muscovado sugar
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon dried, crushed chillis
400ml cheap malt vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sultanas
A knob of butter
Directions
1. Slice the onions thinly, and cube the apples. Chop up the tomatoes into chunks.
2. Melt the butter in the pan and fry the onions with the sugar until they are soft, brown and caramelised.
3. Add the tomatoes, apples, sultanas ginger, cinnamon and chillis and stir well. Cook over a medium heat for five minutes.
4. Pour in the malt vinegar and leave to simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture starts to thicken, add the balsamic vinegar, and stir until the chutney is thick and moves slowly around the pan. (I gave it another hour)
5. To preserve, pour into sterilised jars, and seal.
Dionne Baldwin
September 17, 2010
Stash of green tomatoes? Oh boy do I! Not a ONE turned red this year! It’s a bummer but we are finding creative ways to use them for sure. I sure like the looks of this chutney,
nic @ nipitinthebud
September 17, 2010
I really love your first photo. I get a bit tired of all my chutneys being similar shades of brown!
I’m onto my third chutney today and still the buckets are half full of apples and tomatoes.
No complaints though, just need to track down more jars now…
thingswemake
September 17, 2010
Thanks Nic. I must say, G gets through SO much jam we have a good stash of jam jars. Glad you like my crazy pic!