SMOKED GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY

If you’ve tried to grow tomatoes outside, there’s more than an outside chance that they may not properly ripen and once the colder Autumn weather kicks in, it’s game over. With around 2kg of tomatoes still on the vines of our tomato plants, I tried picking a few and ripening them on the windowsill, but they just blackened, so decided to try out some smoked green tomato chutney using some beautiful aromatic plum smoking chips. Here are the results!

1. Harvest your green tomatoes, wash and chop. I wanted to keep the texture of our chutney quite chunky, so halved and quartered my tomatoes, but you may prefer a smoother mix, so chop a little more finely.

2. Place cut side up in a baking tray which you can use on the BBQ. Sprinkle with salt and a quick dousing of olive oil and leave for 30 minutes

3. Light your BBQ or smoker. You’ll need a moderate heat for around 1 and a half hours, so don’t overload with charcoal.

4. We used some wonderful amber coloured plum chips. Place a couple of handfuls in a bowl, pour over some water and allow to soak for 15 minutes before loading into a smoker box. If you don’t have a smoker box, just wrap in a double layer of foil and perforate the top. Place the box or pouch containing the chips onto your coals once they are white hot.

5. Put the baking tray on your grill rack and close your BBQ lid. After just a few minutes, the smoke will build and infuse into the tomatoes as they cook. Let them simmer away for an hour or so, after which they will have softened and taken on the smoky amber colours of the plum chips. The aroma from the plum chips, by the way, was one of the loveliest we’ve ever experienced and we’ve experienced a few!

6. Remove from the BBQ and allow to settle whilst you prepare the other ingredients.

7. Finely chop the onions, shallots, garlic, apple, ginger and chilli and put in a pan along with the sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook on a low heat for around 30 minutes, add the salt and mustard seed, then add the smoked tomatoes. Continue to cook for at least a further hour to cook away the vinegar. You’ll know if the chutny is ready when you can see the bottom of the pan briefly when you pull a wooden spoon through the mixture.

7. Wash, dry and heat up your storage jars in the oven for a few minutes. Then load the jars with the chutney, close the lids and store. As with most chutneys, they do mature over time, but crack one open to enjoy with some delicious smoked cheeses. Check out our Smoked Cheese Platter recipe here.

Give this brilliant recipe a try and let us know how you get on.