The glut of courgettes is always difficult to deal with. They need to be picked often to encourage more to set but if you miss one it can rapidly get big. Chutney of any sort is always a good way to deal with a glut and it will keep for up to 12 months in the refrigerator.
Courgettes don’t really have much flavour so this recipe adds dried apricots, apple and raisins to provide some extra punch.
Ingredients
- 700g Courgettes (or more)
- 500ml White Wine Vinegar
- 250g Sugar
- 250g Dried Apricots
- 250g Raisins
- 1 Apple
- 3/4 tbsp salt
- Pickling Spices (we use ginger, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper seeds, cardamon pods, Szechuan pepper, chilli flakes and bay leaves but a commercial mix would be fine)
Method
Chop the courgettes and apricots into pieces about the same size as the raisins.
Put the spices into a muslin bag (don’t forget to sterilise it in boiling water).
Put everything into a pan and leave to stand for 24 hours (this gives you time to find and clean your jars).
Heat slowly until the sugar is dissolved and then cover and simmer for at least an hour until the liquid becomes syrupy.
Spoon into the warmed clean jars and leave to cool down.
As the vinegar is wine vinegar, it is probably best to keep this chutney in the refrigerator. It seems to keep well.