Green tomato chutney recipe

This week my husband tidied up the garden and took out the tomato plants from our pots on the patio, leaving us with a mini glut of amazingly coloured tomatoes from bright orange to yellow-green and everything in between which I'm putting to good use this year - Green Tomato Chutney to enjoy this Christmas with leftover ham or turkey. Yum!

1kg Green tomatoes
2 medium sized cooking apples
500g soft brown sugar
500ml malt vinegar
2cm root ginger
3 red chillis (optional)
125g raisins
300g shallots
1tsp salt

1. Wash the tomatoes well. Prepare the chillies and pop them aside for now. Peel the ginger with a sharp knife and bruise (you want to keep it whole though, so don't be too brutal - or pop into a muslin bag or tea cage with the chilli, see below). Chop the tomatoes, apples and shallots in a food processor or by hand till they're all nicely sized pieces but avoiding mush.
2. Pop the chopped ingredients into a big pan with the sugar, vinegar, raisins, salt and mix well. then add the ginger and chillies (you might want to put the chilli is a tea-cage or a muslin bag if you don't want it to be part of the finished chutney). Bring to a boil.
3. Once at a good boil, turn the pan down to a simmer for at least an hour - keeping a close eye and stirring every now and then (like every 10 mins) to make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom.
4. While the chutney is cooking, prepare your jars by washing them scrupulously in hot soapy water, rinse well and while still wet either microwave them for 2 mins on 'High' - OR - pop on a baking tray in a hot-ish oven (that's the jars and lids if they're metal) and leave them there until you need them.
5. Once the chutney starts to become 'jammy', then it's ready to spoon into the waiting sterilized jars. Making sure the jars are still warm from sterilizing will ensure they don't crack from the hot chutney! Spoon into the jars and make sure there are no air bubbles, then seal. You can do this with either a piece of cling film or waxed discs and screw the lid on tightly and allow to cool completely - OR - simply screw on the lid and turn the jar upside down and leaving them like that with a tea towel over the top of the upturned jar until cool, as this will create a vacuum (you'll see the button in the centre of the lid, if it has one, pull 'in' just as you find with a new jar of jam).
6. For best results, leave the chutney for a couple of weeks to mellow and the flavours to develop, but it won't hurt to enjoy straight away with any cheese, cold or hot meats. Once opened though, you will have to keep it in the fridge.

If you're a Cath Kidston fan like I am, then you'll love these fabulous jam covers to make your produce look gorgeous for giving as gifts or simply looking pretty on your kitchen shelves.

Enjoy!