Pear and Apple Chutney for Canning
I have always been intrigued by the idea of canning and I LOVE the rustic charm of mason jars. Last summer, I bought 10 lbs of heirloom tomatoes with the intention of jarring up the bright red taste of warm summer days. Upon reading Ball’s canning instructions, I gave up on my plan fearing there was too much room for error. As time marched on, my wariness of canning grew, but so did my varied collection of mason jars.
This holiday season, I stared down my canning fears. I resolved to finally can, and in doing that, I’d preserve the essence of the holiday. Though I’d missed out on those summer tomatoes, now it was the season to combat cold by catching warmth itself, trapping it in glass, and giving it as a gift.
At the farmers market, I found comice pears- still firm, speckled green and brown, smelling wet and sweet. A few stalls down, I was greeted with the bright and woodsy scent of apples and my mouth began to water. Though countless varieties were piled high upon the market stall, my eyes immediately jumped to a basket brimming with red fruit whose shoulders kissed by the sun, glowed yellow- the gala. Apples and pears, every day fruit, comforting and familiar would be transformed into an exotic, heady, winter chutney.
- INGREDIENTS
- 3 lbs comice pears, peeled, cored and diced into ½ inch pieces
- 2 lbs tart crisp apples, peeled, cored and diced into ½ inch pieces
- 2 cups pomegranate juice
- 4 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups of sugar
- ½ red onion diced
- ½ cup dried sour cherries
- 4 inch piece of ginger- grated
- 2 jalapeños seeded & diced
- 1 piece of star anise
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- INSTRUCTIONS
- Bring pomegranate juice, vinegar, and sugar and star anise to a boil in a large stockpot.
- Reduce flame to medium high and cook until liquid is reduced to 2 ½ – 3 cups. It should be rather thick and syrupy.
- Add the pears, apples, ginger, jalapeño, onion, and dried cherries and cook until the fruit is soft- about 30 minutes.
- Lower heat and cook down further until the liquid is very thick*
- Remove from heat and let rest for about 30 minutes before canning in a water bath according to jar manufacturer’s instructions.
- Enjoy this chutney with brie, on turkey sandwiches, with roasted pork loin, with bagels and cream cheese, or with basmati rice and naan.
*note, if your fruit is very juicy and the liquid is not thickening, you may have to remove the fruit from the stockpot and allow the liquid to thicken on it’s own so that the fruit does not break down too much. Once the liquid is thick and jammy, add the fruit back in and stir.
Other ideas for this chutney? Please add your comments, below.
This looks great. I think I will have to stare down my fear of canning.
I've been toying with the idea of canning for a long time now i think its one of my next top 10 things to do list.
looks absolutely wonderful. Brava
Oh, my, this sounds amazing! I love to can – right now, we're enjoying tomato juice canned last summer in our chili.
Great combination of sweet, spicy and savory ingredients. Any tips on canning?
Great looking chutney! I have to get over my fear of real canning too. I've made freezer jam, but preserving is my next goal.
I make bread and butter pickles in the summer when I have a lot of cucumbers. I try to hold on to them and give them away as christmas presents. If they last that long.
See, canning is one of the great examples of culinary perseverence. You're like the ant that thought ahead and had great food in the winter.
I, on the other hand, am the cricket who spent all my time doing other things, and now I don't have this to eat. I think I may have to start hearting canning, too.
I was wondering how you got that incredible ruby color and then read "pomegranate juice" in the ingredients. I went, "ahhhh." Beautiful chutney and a wonderful, thoughtful gift. It's gorgeous.
Mmmm I love chutneys! By the way, your photos are gorgeous!!!
Will be bidding on this lovely chutney! Love chutneys so much!
I just came across this recipe in my search for chutneys and this looks so good! I've made bread and butter pickles but they were just the refrigerator kind. I've vowed to get over my canning fear to make some chutney with the bags and bags of apples I have hanging around. Your recipe is very inspiring!
That's fantastic. I have been thinking it's time for me to make this chutney again too. My friends loved having it for holiday gifts. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Did you use plain pomegranite juice or sweetened?
Unsweetened, pure pom! So yummy!
How much space should I leave at the top of the jar and how long should it be in the water?
One and a half inches of headspace and 10 minutes.
Thanks for asking. Hope you love it.
This looks very yummy! Can this be made without canning (no pun intended) and instead eaten within a certain period of time (1 wek for example) if kept in the fridge?
Absolutely. I\’m guessing it would be good for two or so weeks in the refrigerator and about 6 months in the freezer.
Looks awesome. I'm getting ready to make as Xmas gifts. How many jars (half pint) would this recipe make?
Hi Dane. I think it was a half dozen half pint jars. Made this one in my early days of blogging before I knew to add yield to my recipes.
I’m a canner and I love to find new recipes. But you don’t have any headspace or times on here to can. You can’t just “can to manufactures specifications.” Each recipe is different. That would be like giving you a cake recipe and not giving you a temperature or a time to bake. Can you please rectify this? If you canned it, then you should have some idea. Thanks.
Hi Stephanie,
This is a very old recipe and I was so new to canning, that I thought it had to do with jars more than the recipe.
I am revisiting old recipes as I have time and I will add this one to the top of the list.
I will say that most chutneys seem to call for 1/4 inch headspace and 10 minutes processing. I will reach out to some expert canner friends and see what they think about this one.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Sabrina