Author: The Canning Kitchen by Amy Bronee (reprinted with permission)
Recipe type: Pickles and Relishes
Serves: MAKES FOUR 500 ML (2 CUP) JARS
This incredibly tasty relish is a perfect way to use up an abundance of fresh garden zucchini in summer. Use it on barbecue night with cheeseburgers and smokies or add a few spoonfuls to your meatloaf mixture. If there’s a perfect relish, this is it.
Ingredients
3 lb (1.4 kg) zucchini
2 ½ cups (625 mL) finely diced yellow onion
1 cup (250 mL) finely diced red bell pepper
¾ cup (175 mL) finely diced green bell pepper
¼ cup (60 mL) pickling salt
2 ½ cups (625 mL) granulated sugar
2 ½ cups (625 mL) white vinegar
1 tbsp (15 mL) celery seeds
1 tbsp (15 mL) yellow mustard seeds
Instructions
Rinse the zucchini under cool running water. Trim off and discard the tips. Coarsely shred the zucchini on a box grater or finely chop in a food processor. In a large bowl, stir together the zucchini, onion, red pepper, green pepper and salt. Let stand for 1 hour to allow the salt to draw excess moisture from the vegetables.
Drain and rinse the vegetables in a fine-mesh sieve or a colander lined with a large double layer of cheesecloth. Firmly squeeze out the excess liquid. Transfer the vegetables to a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Stir in the sugar, vinegar, celery seeds and mustard seeds. Bring to a bubble over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Ladle into 4 clean 500 mL (2 cup) jars, leaving a ½ -inch (1 cm) headspace. Poke a non-metallic utensil inside each jar a few times to remove any air bubbles, topping up the relish if necessary. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes using the Processing Checklist on page 17.
Notes
TIP For a flavour twist, experiment with brown or black mustard seeds. The darker the mustard seed, the hotter they are. For a colour twist, try sunny yellow zucchini instead of green.
Recipe by Food Bloggers of Canada at https://www.foodbloggersofcanada.com/cookbook-corner-the-canning-kitchen-review/