Tomatoes won’t ripen? This green tomato jam might be the solution to the green tomato glut.

Green Benge invented this recipe when he lived in the Hutt Valley a few years ago. “I planted a crop of tomatoes, none of which would ripen past the green stage as they all got the black spot on the bottom,” he sayd.”Not wanting to waste a large crop, I sought a recipe to use them up and found the following.”

Recipe: Geoff Benge

INGREDIENTS

1.4kg green tomatoes
3 lemons
115g preserved ginger
1kg sugar

METHOD

Cut tomatoes up small, slice ginger and lemons up thinly, sprinkle part of the sugar over them and leave overnight. The next day, cook until tender, then add the remaining sugar and boil until setting point is reached. Bottle as usual.

This makes a rather nice ginger-flavoured jam and the tomatoes provide the bulk.

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