Transform this prized peach variety into a dark, flavourful chutney. 

Words: Kristina Jensen

Following the success of my oven-roasted Chunky Monkey Feijoa Chutney, I decided it was time to try something new with the red-fleshed peaches, commonly known as blackboy (a highly coveted variety in New Zealand).

Makes: 6-8 x 200g jars
Cooking time: 20 mins prep then sits overnight, cooking time in oven 2 hrs 30 mins.

INGREDIENTS

1kg dred-fleshed peaches (about 20 peaches)
500g rhubarb (12-15 stalks)
2 red onions
300g dark muscovado sugar
½ cup grated fresh ginger root
200g chopped dates
200g raisins
400ml white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp (or more if you like it hot) chilli powder of your choice (I prefer Kashmiri or cayenne)
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

METHOD

Halve the peaches, remove the stones, and chop them into cubes. Place in an ovenproof dish that has a lid.

Wash and chop the rhubarb into 1 cm lengths and add to the dish. Peel and chop the onions and add along with all the other ingredients. Mix together and leave to stand on the bench overnight.

The next day, heat the oven to 180ºC. Give the chutney mix a good stir and place in the centre of the oven and set a timer for one hour. After an hour, take the dish out and carefully remove the lid. Stir the chutney and put the dish, with the lid on, back into the oven for another hour. The chutney should be starting to caramelize around the edges after 2 hours of cooking.

Remove the dish, stir again and place back in the oven for another 30 minutes without the lid. Once it has cooked to your liking, remove the dish and lightly mash the chutney with a potato masher. If you prefer chunky chutney, then omit this step.

Carefully spoon the chutney into sterilized hot jars and seal. Label when cool.

The flavour intensifies after sitting for 2 weeks so squirrel it away in a secret location (I have to do this because otherwise I would eat it all!)

TO PEEL OR NOT TO PEEL

If you don’t like peach skin, then here’s how to peel peaches before chopping them up. Put a few dark skinned peaches in a shallow bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them stand for a few minutes and the skins will loosen up and slip off when nicked with a sharp knife. Then do another batch until they are all naked.