Pears, tomatoes and celery relish

Relishes. They are those North-American sweet and sour toppings that take your hamburger a few levels higher. This time I created one from pears and tomatoes and it was quickly paired with tofu and fresh veggies in a hamburger 🙂

For around 1,5 l of relish; Very simple; 20-30 min for preparation + 2 h for cooking

1400 g tomatoes; peeled, cleaned and cubed
800 g pears; cleaned and cubed
200 g onion; minced
300 g stalk celery; minced
1/2 teaspoon of chilli (depending on how spicy you want it)
2 tablespoons of mustard seeds
1/2 tablespoon of sweet smoked paprika
3 dl water
1 l apple vinegar
300 g brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons of salt

1. Prepare all the veggies and put them in a bigger pot. Add also chilli, mustard seeds, smoked red paprika and water. Mix well and start heating. Let it boil uncovered for around 20 minutes.
2. Then add the apple vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix and let gently boil for around 1 h 15 min until most of the liquid evaporates.
3. Put relish in clean mason jars, cover well with lids and leave the glasses covered with the blanket overnight.

Wise-ass corner

You can keep the relish in pieces or blend it to get a more sauce-like consistency.

You don’t know how to use it? Relish is amazing as a condiment next to meat (specially minced meat), as a salad dressing,… You can also mix it with some sour cream and create a special sauce for dipping french fries.

If you’re the lazy kind you don’t have to peel the tomatoes. But it is for sure better if you do because of the texture.

This relish has quite some vinegar and salt so you can keep it in your pantry for at least 2 years.