Peter, the man with the Noosa Red tomatoes at the farmer’s market, always has a smile – and why shouldn’t he; his tomatoes are seriously the best I’ve tasted. We’re lucky enough to get them almost straight from the farm gate – where they’re grown is about 40 kms north of here. He picks them the day before market, and they have seriously ruined me for any other tomato – they are so beautifully sweet that I literally eat them like apples…although love them for brekky on rye sourdough with fresh goat’s curd (also from the markets) and basil from my garden.
This morning we talked, as we always do, about the weather – the rain we’d had during the week, slightly cooler days. He shook his head today and said, ‘the plants aren’t happy.’
Then he pointed past the perfect tomatoes on the stall to some trays in the back of his truck. ‘I have a lot of seconds today,’ he said.
Beside me Grant groaned, he knew what was coming. ‘I’ll take some off your hands,’ I said.
‘Of course you will,’ muttered Grant. ‘What are you going to make?’
‘Chutney,’ I replied.
‘Make sure you use red onions,’ said Peter, ‘they’re sweeter. One of my restaurants takes trays of seconds off me to make tomato paste,’ he said. ‘You can do that and freeze it.’ A cheeky grin came over his face. ‘Do you want another tray?’
‘Maybe next week…’
So, this is my recipe, it goes particularly well with cheddar or red Leicester cheese. It has a bit of curry and some mustard and ginger in it for some spice. If you wanted to you could add some chopped apple and sultanas but we didn’t have any apples and Sarah hates sultanas.
What you need
- 2kgs tomatoes, chopped
- 2 large onions (red, if possible) chopped
- 2 ½ tablespoons malt vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 500g brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
- Minced ginger – about 2 teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
What you do with it
- Put everything other than the cornflour into a large pan – I use a deep wide pan. Stir over low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, then increase the heat to medium-high and bring to the boil.
- Cook, stirring it every so often, for about 50 minutes – the ingredients should be broken down and the mixture thick.
- Mix cornflour with 60ml cold water until it is a smooth paste, stir it into the chutney and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Cool and pour into sterilised jars.
And Anyways... 
Hi, Jo – Those tomatoes look amazing. And your chutney sounds absolutely delicious. You have rapidly become my #1 food blogger! I greatly appreciate your clear, step-by-step directions!
Awwww thanks (blows kiss)
Saved! It’s almost chutney making time here 🙂 Especially with Red Leicester cheese, I can get that straight from the farm shops as that’s my county 🙂
I’m more than a tad jelly about that.. love red Leiceser
I truly want to love tomatoes but it is a work in progress for me. How divinely Peter’s tomatoes grow. And I really like the sound and look of the chutney. Less like tomatoes and more like salsa – a staple here in El Paso!!
My Sarah doesn’t like tomatoes either, but se does love them cooked. I, however, can eat them like apples – if they are good enough, that is. I’d love to try a proper Texan salsa – here a salsa is raw chopped tomato with onion, herbs and sometimes cucumber and corn. We do a mango salsa too.
Wow, that sounds so good! We have two tomato plants that should be producing soon so I’ll keep this recipe for when our cup runneth over with their scrumptious goodness. I also like your “recipe” for the tomatoes on rye sourdough.
It’s my weekend treat – and all from the farmers market. I love winter in Queensland!
Yummm! Those tomatoes look super fresh and your chutney looks amazing!
Thanks…I’m pretty chuffed with it myself…
Nothing looks tastier than a big, ripe, juicy tomato and look what you did with them – yum!
I’m thinking of making sauce of puree with the next lot…
The tomatoes do look exceptionally fresh and tasty. I agree with Donna on the #1 food blogger. A “rye sourdough?” I have not heard these two words together before. I wonder whether any of the bakeries here sell this type of bread. Since, I don’t have Jo living close to me. 🙂 Good point on buying the seconds. Thank you for including the recipe.xx
Awe thanks. The addition of some rye flour to a sourdough gives a really great flavour. If you have any German style bakeries around they might do it.