Leftover Tomato & Capsicum Relish

There are somethings I am just good at doing.

One of them is making pickles and preserves.

And I honestly don't know why more people don't preserve. I can only think of it as a fear of the unknown. But you shouldn't be scared, it is a fantastic way of using up leftovers and is pretty much a go as you feel sort of thing. Plus you can put in (or leave out) whatever you want.

Today's post is probably the perfect of example of this. I opened the fridge, looked at the crisper where I put all the "leftover" veges I haven't used in the last week and realised I had 4 and a half capsicum (green and red) and about 2 punnets of cherry tomatoes, homegrown from our triffid of a tomato plant. I also fished out a half a lemon (that i zested and juiced),  red onion halves (from 2 separate onions), 6 small cloves of garlic and  half a red chilli. So to me, this just screamed Tomato & Capsicum Relish.

Our Triffid of a tomato patch

From that, I just added 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 cup of red wine vinegar (because I had this leftover in 2 bottles in the pantry), a cup of sugar, a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander (ground) and some basil and coriander that was going to seed in the garden. Finally a tin of tomatoes I had in the pantry (because I wanted it a bit more tomato-y and had no other tomatoes in the house), a grind of salt and pepper, and a cup of water, stir it all together and bring to the boil. Reduce to low and let it cook for an hour or until reduced and thickened. Just as a side note, none of those measurements are precise in anyway, At no time did I have a measuring cup or spoon in my hand. To be honest, I didn't even think about measurements until I started writing this, and that's the beauty of pickles, they are flexible and forgiving.

Finally bottle it into sterilized Jar and keep for a rainy day (if you can wait that long).

This was simply a quick adaptation of my Roasted Capsicum and tomato chutney that I usually make around Christmas when both Tomatoes and Capsicums are in abundance. But instead of roasting the capsicums first I just threw then in which gives a fresher relish flavor to the recipe.

I have done similar things with the various leftovers in the crisper on many occasions, and am now eyeing off 4 zucchini's that are sitting in there looking suspicious (i'm thinking a sweet yellow mustard base would do them wonders).

 So I guess t wrap up, what i'm trying to say is, don't fear the pickle. It is one of the easiest, convenient and wonderful things you can do with leftovers. They make wondrous gift (try handing over a jar next time you go to someones house instead of a bottle of wine) and will keep for up to 12 months in your cupboard. Plus the are better than anything you will ever buy in the shops.