Fig, Ginger and Walnut Chutney

Fig, Ginger and Walnut Chutney
 

This is a recipe I developed after making a few others from the recipes. It's a really rich chutney and the mix of textures of the figs and walnuts is awesome.

Having moved my fig tree to the burm outside our house, fed and watered it A LOT, I got a great harvest of figs. The only problem was getting them before people walking past did!

This is a recipe I have moved from my original blog - Wild Yeast and Sugar Pie (without the GEN 2).

Fig, Ginger and Walnut Chutney

Ingredients

• 15 fresh figs / two bags of dried figs
• 150ml balsamic vinegar
• 100ml white wine vinegar
• 300g soft brown sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 red onions finely sliced
• 1 chilli deseeded and cut into slithers ( optional)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 10g fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste.
• 1/2 cup of chopped crystallised ginger
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Finely slice the red onion, peel and grate the ginger, remove the stalk from the figs and cut them into quarters. Zest and juice the lemon. Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan over a medium heat and then put in the red onion. Fry the onion for 5 minutes until it has slightly softened and turned translucent, it should be slightly caramelised.

Add all the other ingredients to the pan except for the figs, then season with salt & pepper to taste. Bring it up to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for a further 30 minutes. Once the liquid has reduced to a syrup add in the figs, crystallised ginger and walnuts and cook it for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the chutney into jars, seal and allow to cool.The Chutney can be kept unopened for up to six weeks and opened as long as it’s refrigerated for 3 weeks. 

Pear and Tamarind Chutney

Too many pears in the fruit bowl led to this recipe being found and made.
A really nice tangy chutney, but not spicy.
It's super easy and used the remainder of a jar of tamarind paste I had in the fridge.

Ingredients

8	Pears, ripe, cored and finely diced
1 cup	Tamarind puree
1 cup	Soft brown sugar
2 Tbsp	Fresh ginger, finely grated
4 tsp	Mustard seeds
½ tsp	Salt

Directions

1. Heat pears, tamarind puree, sugar, ginger, mustard seeds and salt in a pot.

1. Simmer gently, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, until the sauce is thick and the pears are tender (about 30 minutes).

1. Bottle while hot into sterilised jars and seal with sterilised screw-top lids

Chunky Courgette Chutney

We had WAAAAAAYYYYY too many courgettes (and lots of tomatoes in the garden) so decided to try a chutney with them. This is really nice and easy. I made a double recipe and cooked it for about double the time to get it to reduce.

500 g	Tomatoes, diced
500 g	Courgettes
1	Onion, diced
2	Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp	Fresh ginger
4	Garlic cloves, diced
1 Tbsp	Yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp	Mixed spice, (ground)
1 tsp	Salt
250 g	Brown sugar
350 ml	White wine vinegar

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a large, heavy-based stainless-steel saucepan. 
2. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring often. Simmer for about 45 minutes or until thick. 
3. Pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal.
4. Makes about 5 cups.