Roasted capsicum chilli jam

Recently we harvested some chillies from our garden which we grew from seeds, and wrote a post about how you can easily grow them from seed at home. If you are like us, and lucky to have an abundance of chillies, then why not try this delicious capsicum chilli jam that goes perfectly with tacos and burritos, on sandwiches or as a bit of a kick with your afternoon cheese and crackers.

What you will need:

• 5-10 Chillies (depending how spicy you like it)
• 4 large red capsicums (if you want to cut back the sweetness a little, swap in a green capsicum or two)
• 1.5 tbs jam setting powder with pectin
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 x 125 mL canning jars with lids

 Process

• Place capsicum and chillies on a baking tray and drizzle with oil and roast in the oven at 180°C until caramelised (about 40 mins).
• Remove, and allow to cool slightly.
• Add capsicums and chillies to a blender, and blend to a smooth paste.
• Add capsicum, vinegar and jam setting mix to a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir regularly
• While capsicum mix is heating, remove the lids from the clean canning jars, place on a baking tray and place into a 115°C oven to sterilise
• Once capsicum mix is boiling, stir in the sugar to dissolve and return to the heat and boil for 1 min stirring regularly. Skim off any foam as necessary.
• Remove hot jars from the oven, and ladle jam mix into jars leaving approximately 1cm of space at the top. Wipe the rim and seal with sterile lids and allow to cool.

• Inspect the jars after 24 hrs to check for a good seal. Lids should be indented which tells you an air tight seal has been achieved. If you find that the air tight seal has not occurred, simply store in the fridge and consume this jar first within about 2 weeks. If more than one of your jars didn’t seal, check your jars and lids for cracks or damage around the rim, rust, or other defects. Re-sealing is possible if there are no issues with your jars, however this should be done with a pressure cooker to ensure the temperature raises above 110°C to kill bacteria. Partially submerge your jars in water in the pressure cooker, and boil for 10-15 mins. Remove the jars and allow to cool and inspect again after 24 hrs.

Enjoy.