a busy domestic blog of knitting, sewing and all kinds of needlecrafts, cooking my garden produce and preserving it

Thursday, 2 August 2018

When life gives you courgettes ... make marmalade


If there's one surplus from the allotment that I hate, it's courgettes. There's only so many of them that you can eat (and to be honest I having been cooking much with the heat), and they don't freeze well.


 The only options left are chutney and marmalade - and we eat more marmalade.











It's weird, but simple, and does actually taste like marmalade once cooked. Basically, peel and chop the courgettes, getting rid of any seeds. Weigh them and put them in a jam pan with their weight in sugar, and leave overnight.
 For each pound of courgettes, add a lemon or two (I save squeezed out ones in the freezer) and a handful of frozen leftover orange rind. I boil these separately to soften, then cut up finely and add to the courgettes.



 




Next day it all just needs boiling up - gently at first to be sure the courgettes are soft (sometimes I mash them to avoid lumps) then quickly to set.