Green Tomato, Cider and Black Garlic Chutney
An all new green tomato harvest, an all new green tomato chutney! If you’d like to have a go at a more traditional chutney recipe, click here. You can also read about the history of this fascinating food and how it came to be.
For this recipe I wanted to make something a little different. Chutney is often paired with hard cheeses, lending to their spiced, sweet, acidic tomatoiness (that’s now a word). Here I wanted to make something that would lend itself to a softer, fresh goats cheese, and what better than pairing it with apples. I love it when ingredients appear at the same time, and apples and green tomatoes both coincide nicely. To give the recipe some extra apple kick, I’ve taken a leaf from Jane Austen’s black butter recipe and balanced the liquid of this chutney with cider, to boost the appliness of the cooking apples. Along with spices and black garlic, which I got from The Original Black Garlic Company, this recipe is deeply fruity and morish, with a pleasant umami and slight liquorish note.
The Recipe - Makes 1kg - Takes 2 hours
600g green tomatoes
550g cooking apples
380ml cider*
200ml water
350g sugar
75ml cider vinegar
75ml sherry vinegar
1tsp cloves, ground
1tsp cinnamon, ground
1tbsp sweet smoked paprika
5 cloves of black garlic, crushed or minced
2tbsp tomato puree
A pinch of salt and cracked black pepper
* You can choose dry or sweet cider. Dry gives a more refined, gin-like finish that compliments the green tomatoes nicely. Sweet helps balance the tartness of the apples.
Serve with buttered toast and a fresh goats cheese.
Step 1.
Add the sugar, cider, water, vinegar, spices puree, and seasoning to a large saucepan and begin to bring it to a simmer over a medium heat. Quarter the apples and remove the core, adding them to the saucepan as you go to avoid oxidation. (You don’t need to peel the apples. This chutney is rustic and chunky so apple and tomato skin adds to the texture).
Step 2.
Once the apples are added, roughly chop any large tomatoes and add the rest in whole. Finally, crush the black garlic using a garlic crusher or finely mince with a knife and add it in too. Stir to mix, then leave it over a low heat for 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so. (If ingredients are sticking out of the liquid don’t worry, as everything cooks down it will drop in the pan).
As you enter the final hour, stir more frequently and keep an eye on it as it will thicken and is more likely to burn on the bottom of the pan.
Step 3.
Once the chutney has reached 2 hours, taste a little and adjust the sweetness, spice and seasoning to taste. Clean and sterilise 2x 500ml glass jars (or 4x 250ml jars) using hot soapy water, rinse with boiling water, then allow them to air dry. Once the chutney is ready and still piping hot, carefully spoon it into the jars and fasten the lids in place. Allow them to cool at room temperature and you should hear the lids seal pop.
Store them in a cupboard for a month and keep in a fridge for a week after opening.