Rearranging my kitchen pantry I counted no less than a dozen cans of tinned tomatoes. An impressive stockpile borne out of the habit of throwing three or four tins into the shopping trolley during the winter months. An indispensable pantry staple. Essential for creating all those heartwarming pasta sauces, soups, curries and braises my family loves to eat. With winter long gone and summer just around the corner it won’t be long before fresh tomatoes will be at their flavourful best. What to do with all those tins? I’m making Tomato Chilli Jam.
Sweet, spicy and sticky it’s a favourite in our house. The perfect relish for sandwiches, burgers and steak sandwiches. Sometimes I use it as a mellow substitute for chilli jam in my stir fries. A dream recipe, so very quick and easy to make. Yesterday’s batch was ready in less than an hour. Just in time for lunch. A wonderful addition to my cheese toastie.
Tomato Chilli Jam
Makes 1 cup
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1 red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 long red chilli, finely minced
1 can (400g) diced tomatoes
HEAT oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, add onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until onion is soft and transparent. Do not allow the onion to caramelise.
ADD ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes until fragrant. Stir often to ensure ginger doesn’t catch to the bottom of the pan.
ADD the vinegar, brown sugar and chilli and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
STIR in the tinned tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, on low for 30-45 minutes until thick. Timing will depend on the size of your pan, and how thick you like your jam, remembering it will continue to thicken as it cools. Use a simmer mat, if you have one, to prevent the relish from sticking to the bottom of the pan as it reduces.
REMOVE from heat and spoon the hot jam into a clean, dry sterilised* jar. Set aside to cool. An open jar can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 months.
*Looking for instructions on how to sterilise jars? Refer to my previous post My Pantry Staple. Confit Garlic with Herbs, Chilli and Peppercorns.
The Paddington Foodie 
This sounds so good! It’s amazing what you can find in your pantry!
At least tinned tomatoes can be put to unlimited good use. It’s those lingering exotic ingredients I purchase that are tessential for a particular recipe, invariably come in large packages sizes but you only need a little that have me stumped.
Ha! I hear you on that one!
This looks so yummy! I’m a sucker for anything that includes tomatoes 🙂 I bet this would be perfect with fried calamari!!!
It most definitely would. I often serve it with barbequed tiger prawns.
Oh stop it now!
Bookmarked for my christmas presents straightaway, I needed a chutney recipe for my hampers and think I have found the perfect one 🙂
You’ve made my day. Thank you and enjoy.
This is totally going on my to do list!!! Looks super delicious! 🙂
Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
I made this today and it’s soo gorgeous! Just one question, should I just store it in the cupboard until giving it for presents this Christmas?
I just store mine in sterilised jars sealed with a round of wax paper in a cool, dry cupboard. Once opened the jar is moved to the fridge. We’ve had opened jars in the fridge for about 2 weeks – it always seems to be eaten by then so haven’t tested a longer time frame. So lovely to hear you made the jam.
Okay that’s great, thank you very much for sharing the recipe!