We cleared out the last of the vines from the greenhouse last weekend. There was an awful lot of foliage, a very small number of red tomatoes, and rather more that were still hard and green.

The red ones had largely split, so we put them to one side for the chickens, but the green ones we brought indoors to make into green tomato chutney.

Chutneys, as we’ve said before, are easy. So long as you keep an eye on them and don’t let them stick to the bottom of the pan (they’re very difficult to get off if you make them stick) they’re a good first step on the road to preserving.

You can also vary the ingredients, adding a little more or less of each one depending on what you have to hand, and even substituting some entirely if there’s something here you haven’t got.

Ingredients
2kg green tomatoes
Three large onions
A generous grind of salt
500g sugar
1 litre of vinegar
250g raisins

Equipment needed
Large pan (preferably a jam pan)
Wooden spoon
Knives
Hob or stove
Screw-top jars

Method
Roughly cut the tomatoes and onions and drop them into the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Although the tomatoes will break down a little as you cook them, you still want to cut them to roughly the size you want in your finished chutney or you’ll end up with large pieces of skin, as these won’t break down.

Bring the ingredients to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Ensure that you stir regularly as you boil them up, or you risk burning the sugar onto the bottom of the pan. This happens surprisingly quickly – in some cases less than five minutes. If you do manage to burn it onto the bottom of the pan, be careful not to scrape it up into your chutney mixture. Instead, stir the rest of your mixture carefully and they chip the burnt mixture from the bottom of the pan once it has cooled and the chutney been removed. You may also find that re-boiling water in the pan once the chutney has been put into jars loosens the burnt mixture sufficiently to wipe it off.

Let the chutney simmer for around 90 minutes as it starts to thicken, stirring frequently. Once it is just a little wetter than you would like, carefully spoon into sterilised jars and seal them. Leave them unopened for at least 8 weeks as the chutney matures. The longer you leave it, the better and fuller the taste. It will also congeal a little more in the jars during this time, which is why you stop simmering just before it gets to the consistency you want.

Tomato chutney is particularly good when served with cheese.

Related posts:

1. Apple chutney recipe
2. Tomato chutney recipe
3. How to make lemon curd: recipe