Courgette & Apricot Chutney

This weekend, Saturday saw us pretty much confined to barracks, as we had heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for pretty much the whole day and, for a change, the forecast was spot on. 

There was nothing for it. Time to make our favourite Courgette and Apricot Chutney. I'd already got all of the ingredients in as this was on my agenda for the coming week, as the courgettes, that we'd grown from seed for the first time, were in abundance and I didn't want them to go to waste. 

We tried this recipe for the first and only time a couple of years ago. It's a chutney that definitely improves with age, and we'd not that long ago finished our last jar, so it was time to stock up the store cupboard. 

The measurements for the ingredients made us sufficient chutney to fill 11 small jars. 

Ingredients 

600g courgettes 

500g ready to eat, dried apricots 

500g cooking apples, peeled & cored weight 

450g red onions, peeled weight 

2 level tsps ground ginger 

1 level tsp ground allspice 

1 level tsp salt 

568ml bottle distilled white malt vinegar 

500g granulated sugar

Cut the courgettes, apricots and apples into 1/2 cm pieces. Chop the onions. 

Put all the ingredients in a very large saucepan and cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Boil gently, with the lid off, for 35-45 minutes until the mixture is the consistency of chutney. When it's ready, a wooden spoon dragged across the base of the pan will leave a clear path that takes a few seconds to cover over. 

About 20 minutes before the chutney is ready, sterilise your jars. 

Fill the jars with the chutney and put on the lids. 

Store for at least six weeks in a cool dark cupboard before using. 

Once opened store in the fridge.