Pumpkin Chutney

With their wonderful shapes, textures, and vibrant colors, pumpkins and squashes are always so visually appealing and their flesh gives this chutney a colorful look and sweeter flavor, which is always a good thing.

MAKES: About 6½ cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 peppercorns
• 2 tsp. whole allspice
• ¾-inch-square piece of fresh gingerroot, bruised
• 5 ½ cups pumpkin flesh, cut into ⅝-inch cubes (from pumpkin weighing approx. 2¾ pounds)
• 1 pound cooking apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
• 2 rounded tbsp. minced stem ginger
• ¾ pound shallots, peeled, cored, and minced
• 1 ⅜ cup golden raisins, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 ½ cups cider vinegar
• 1 ⅞ cups (packed) warmed soft brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the dry spices (peppercorns, whole allspice) and bruised gingerroot in a piece of muslin and tie it into a bag with string.
2. In a stainless steel preserving pan, combine the pumpkin flesh, cooking apples, minced stem ginger, shallots, golden raisins, minced garlic, salt, and cider vinegar. Add the spice bag to the pan.
3. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the pumpkin and apple are soft.
4. Add the warmed soft brown sugar to the pan and stir over a gentle heat until all the sugar has dissolved.
5. Increase the heat and simmer the chutney for approximately 1-1½ hours until it thickens but is still juicy, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the muslin bag containing the spices.
7. Pour the chutney into hot, sterilized jars and seal them.

VARIATION:

MARROW SQUASH CHUTNEY

• It is great to find “good ways with marrow squash,” since people who grow them always seem to end up with a glut of ginormous specimens but without a clue what to do with them. When it comes to preserving, and to chutneys in particular, marrow squash are a really useful “filler-outer,” in the same way that apples are. However, they are a very watery vegetable, so you need to remove some of this liquid right at the start to concentrate the flavor.
• Substitute the same amount of marrow squash for the pumpkin in Pumpkin Chutney. There is no need to add the stem ginger. Place the squash in a bowl, sprinkle with some salt, and leave for 12 hours to draw out the excess water; rinse thoroughly and drain, then follow the recipe above