Marrow and Ginger Jam

peeled and seed the marrow ready to chop

Since we started growing our own veg and salad in 2010, we’ve had varying levels of success but one thing that we always manage to grow lots of is courgettes.

cut the marrow into manageable pieces before chopping into cubes

Most seasons, we have used them all up in salads, pasta and anything else we could use them in and this year was not different.

We were away for a few weeks recently, however, and thought we had pretty much harvested everything that there was left to eat or that hadn’t already passed it best & gone to seed. When we got home, there was a monster Marrow hiding under the umbrella leaves of our single but very productive courgette plant.

zested and juiced lemons set aside

I love courgettes but I’m not a great fan of marrow (seems weird when it is the same product in effect, but there you go) so I knew exactly what I would do with it. I’d use it to make one of my favourite home made jams – Marrow and Ginger.

ginger peeled and ready to chop

Unlike the last time I made this delicious marrow and ginger jam, when we had a glut of courgettes, this enormous 2kg holiday marrow would be the ingredient in this one.

lemon halves and pips set aside

A quick dash to the supermarket for lemons and a check that there was enough ginger left, I set about my foody task for the day.

lemons into muslin bag to go into the maslin pan

It’s a really easy recipe to follow and the results are so tasty.

It is a jam (with an equal amount of sugar to marrow unless you reduce it slightly as I prefer) and has a real sweetness to it but it also has a certain sharpness from the lemons & a lovely heat from the ginger that makes it equally delicious with cold meats and cheeses.

chopped ginger and lemon zest ready to go into marrow

I absolutely love it on a slice of chunky bread and butter.

lemons in muslin bag in boiling jam

Here is the recipe for any of you that want to have a go…….

Ingredients

5 unwaxed lemons

2kg of marrow (pealed, deseeded and cut into small cubes)

2kg of jam sugar (with added pectin)

1 large knob, about 150g, of fresh ginger (peeled and shredded/very finely chopped)

Take zest off all lemons and set aside.  juice lemons and set juice aside.

Put left over lemon shells (including the pips) into a muslin bag for later.

Put marrows into your maslin pan with a splash of the lemon juice.

Cook on a medium heat until the courgettes become clear and soft (I don’t like the lumps so I let it go mushy or mash it).

Stir in sugar, rest of juice, zest, ginger and the muslin bag of bits.

Boil to setting point and then decant into sterilized jars

Yummy!!!