Easy Tomato chutney

I was fortunate to be given a load of homegrown cherry tomatoes from a friend, and we had a a small harvest of our own so wanted to make something that would use a load of them. As the weather is starting to feel more autumnal I thought I’d make up a batch of chutney!

This is very easy to make but does take a long time to cook through! Allow at least 3-5 hours of cooking time (you can turn off the heat, cover it and leave it to continue later if you run out of time). This needs to be left to ‘ripen’ so should be ready for Christmas!

You will need:

1kg tomatoes (can be any tomatoes you like – even green ones)

1kg Bramley apples

900g onions

6 cloves of garlic

600g brown sugar

2 tbsp ground ginger

1/2 tbsp cayenne

1 tbsp salt

25g pickling spice

1.5 litres Malt Vinegar

Small piece of muslin or gauze and some string

Jars

Peel and chop the onions into quarters. Core and chop the apples into quarters or eighths if large, leave the peel on. Chop the tomatoes.

Place each of these into a processor and pulse until chopped into small pieces.

Place into a very large saucepan. Crush the garlic cloves and add them too. Stir well.

Add the ginger, cayenne and salt and the sugar. Mix well.

Pop the pickling spices in a small square of muslin or gauze, tie it up and then tie it to the handle of the pan so it hangs down in to the pan. Add the vinegar and stir.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and then turn the heat down and allow to gently simmer uncovered for at least 3-4 hrs.

This will take a long time so just let it simmer away. Depending how much liquid the fruit and veg contained it may take even longer. Stir occasionally. The liquid will evaporate off and you will be left with a thicker consistency (chutney like!) – when you draw a spoon through it will leave a trail.

Pop some clean jars in the oven at 50 degrees just to heat through. Pour the hot chutney into the jars, add a wax seal and plastic film over the top and then label and store for 1-3 months before eating.