Pear and Tart Cherry Chutney
This recipe for Pear and Tart Cherry Chutney is an English-style chutney, using both fresh fruit (pears) and dried fruits (tart cherries and golden raisins). It’s a perfect relish-type jam that pairs wonderfully with cheeses, used as a sandwich spread, and is a great condiment for ham, pork and chicken.
My niece and nephew are in high school now (where does the time go?) and are musical marching members of their high school band. Recently as a fund-raiser, they were selling fruit. I was placing my order with them and got oranges and grapefruit, but wanted to spend a bit more money to help them with their efforts.
I added a box of pears to the order, without really thinking about just how many pears there are in a half bushel! So, when the order arrived I was agog! Since I couldn’t possibly eat that many pears, I decided to make some pear chutney to preserve those gorgeous pears for future consumption!
Now, you don’t have to have a half bushel of pears to make this recipe. It’s meant to be a small batch recipe, making 6 pints (I ended up making two batches). Of course, you can cut it down even further. But make some of this delightful chutney. You won’t regret it.
Also, you can skip the water bath canning portion of the recipe, but the jars will need to be refrigerated.
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- 5 pounds diced pear flesh (about 20-22 pears, peeled and cored)
- 4 cups brown sugar
- 2½ cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups dry tart cherries
- 2 cups diced onion
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1 fresh lemon, seeded and minced (including peel)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3 tablespoons mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon dry minced garlic (or 5 fresh cloves)
- 3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 whole cloves
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, add all the ingredients.
- Stir to combine.
- Over medium-high heat, bring to a rapid boil and reduce heat to medium.
- Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 2 hours, until the mixture has reduced and thickened.
- Toward the end of the cooking time for the pear mixture, put your canning pot on the stove with water and bring to a boil.
- Prepare your jars and lids for canning, according to manufacturers guidelines.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks and cloves (if you can find them) from the chutney.
- Ladle the chutney into the prepared jars, leaving ½ inch of head space.
- Using a very hot, sterilized towel, wipe the rims of the jars and place the lids and rings on.
- Submerge the jars into the canning pot, with at least 1 inch of boiling water over the top of the jars.
- Process in this boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the canning pot to a surface padded with a towel to cool and seal.
