Ingredients
- 8-10 fresh red chillies
- 8 ripe red peppers
- olive oil
- 2 medium red onions , peeled and chopped
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary , leaves picked and chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 x 5 cm stick cinnamon
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 100 g brown sugar
- 150 ml balsamic vinegar
Method
- Place your chillies and peppers on a tray under a hot grill, turning them now and then until blackened and blistered all over. Put the hot peppers and chillies into a bowl and cover tightly with cling film. When hey’re cool enough to handle, you’ll be able to peel the skin off easily.
- Peel off the skin, trim the stalks and scoop out the seeds. Finely chop by hand or put in a food processor.
- Heat a saucepan and a splash of olive oil. Add the onions, rosemary, bay leaves and cinnamon and season. Cook very slowly for approximately 20 minutes.
- Add the chopped peppers, chillies, sugar and vinegar to the onions and keep cooking. When the liquid reduces you’re left with a thick sticky chutney, season well to taste. Don’t forget to remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.
- Either spoon into sterilised jars and put them in a cool dark place, or keep in the fridge and use right away. In sterilised jars, the chutney should keep for a couple of months. It would make a fab little gift in a Christmas hamper or maybe for a school fayre stall, it’s been my experience that a homemade jam or chutney is always very gratefully received.
