gooseberry relish

gooseberry relish

One of my favourite discoveries this summer was that gooseberries taste a lot like tomatillos! Not that I had been feeling the lack of tomatillos in my life, but watching Thomasina Miers of Wahaca fame and Wahaca, Mexican Food at Home, made me curious about their flavour. 

But unless you grow tomatillos yourself, you are unlikely to find them in the UK. But since I had gooseberries in my garden, I thought I could make a gooseberry relish to go with some roasted chicken, inspired by one of Thommi's salsa recipes.

This relish is a fabulous way too of using up a glut of gooseberries and goes particularly well with fish such as mackerel or with this delicious grilled salmon with smoky tamarind, as well as roasted chicken and pork and is wonderful spooned over buttery new potatoes.

Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
300g gooseberries
water
1 x large green chilli, chopped
half x red onion, finely chopped
3 x spring onions, finely chopped (including green parts)
a handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped (plus extra to serve)
juice of 1 x fresh lime
2 tsp olive oil
half tsp caster sugar
1 x garlic clove, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Simmer the gooseberries for 10 minutes with a little water, green chilli, red onion and half of the chopped spring onions.
2. Drain and set aside to cool.
3. Blend together most of the coriander (holding a little back to serve) with the sugar, garlic and lime juice. Stir in the gooseberry puree and the rest of the chopped spring onions.
4. Season to taste and sprinkle over a little chopped fresh coriander.