A Recipe For the Perfect Onion Chutney/Marmalade

Just a quick pop in whilst I remember to share my favourite recipe for using up onions at harvest time or when they are on offer to buy.

I have been using this recipe from the Rivercottage preserves book for years now and you just cant beat it. It can be used for both red and white onions, although I admit I have only used it for red as I use my white onions too quickly to need to preserve them.

I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe this time, which is not unusual for me, I just used a good glug of olive oil rather than 100ml, and as I didn't have any redcurrant jelly I used some cranberry I had in the cupboard.

Onion Marmalade / Chutney Recipe

100ml olive oil
2kg onions, peeled and finely sliced 
200g demerara sugar
150g redcurrant jelly
300ml cider vinegar
50ml balsamic vinegar
1 rounded tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Reduce the heat cover the pan and cook over a low heat stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes until the onions are collapsed and starting to colour.

Add the sugar and redcurrant jelly. Increase the heat and continue to cook, stirring more frequently, for about 30 minutes until the mixture turns a dark, nutty brown and most of the moisture has been driven off.

Take off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before adding the vinegars to avoid them evaporating. Return to the heat and cook rapidly for another 10 minutes or so, until the mixture becomes gooey and a spoon drawn across the bottom of the pan leaves a clear track across the base for a couple of seconds.

Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into warm, sterilised jars and seal with vinegar proof lids.

Note: I used a labels printable which can be found here