Recipe | End of Season Red and Green Tomato Relish

The Best Red and Green Tomato Recipe —

Still got fruit on your tomato plants that you want to save from the compost pile?

Making a red and green tomato chutney is the perfect way to use up the last of the tomatoes on your plants that won’t have enough time to ripen late in the tomato season.

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By Jen Pomeroy, The Modern Mess

RECIPE — End of Season Red and Green Tomato Relish

By Jen Pomeroy, The Modern Mess

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I made this last year when there were still lots of tomatoes on my plants by the end of the season, but there was not enough time for them to ripen. I think it’s one of the best ways to use up not yet ripe tomatoes from the garden.

I used a mixture of red and fresh green tomatoes, including tomatillos. But you can just use what you have. Roasting them in the oven concentrates the flavours and of the relish and makes it nice and thick without having to worry about a burnt bottom of the pot.

INGREDIENTS —

1.5 kg mixed tomatoes — ripe cherry tomatoes, green cherry tomatoes, tomatillos and large green & red tomatoes

500 g brown and/or red onions, finely chopped

2 T olive oil

1 T Ras el Hanout (a Middle Eastern spice blend)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp cinnamon

500 g brown sugar

300 g dates, chopped

1 1/2 tsp table salt

1 L vinegar (I used a mixture of whatever I could find — malt, white and apple cider vinegar)

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METHOD —

• Preheat the oven to 180°C

• Cut the larger tomatoes in quarters and cut the smaller tomatoes in half.

• Mix the tomatoes with the onions, spices and olive oil and put in an oven dish. Roast for 30 minutes. (I did it in two deeper trays and then transferred it to one half way.)

• Place the dates, sugar, vinegar, spices and salt in a pot on high heat and bring to the boil.

• Break the tomatoes up into small pieces with a spoon and then add the hot liquid to the roasted tomatoes. Cook in the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes, giving it a stir every 20 minutes.

• Pour into hot sterilised small jars. Top with sterilised jar lids. Wipe rims (rinse if needed) and turn the filled jars upside down to help the seal form.

The Modern Mess is a seasonal recipe subscription, full of delicious and flexible meal ideas and recipes. Find out more — www.themodernmess.co.nz

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