This recipe for feijoa paste comes from the April 2011 edition of the New Zealand House & Garden and is another great recipe for anyone who is faced with a glut of feijoas. It has been featured in Stack of Recipes where the chef describes it as a foolproof recipe and recommended serving it with tangy cheese and freshly baked oat cakes. I also really like the sound of the second preserving option given below – little squares of fruity goodness dusted with icing sugar.
FEIJOA PASTE
Makes 800g
Ingredients
- 10 ripe medium sized feijoas (about 1kg)
- 3 cooking apples
- 600mls water
- 600g sugar
Method
- Use a potato peeler to remove skin from feijoas. Roughly chop fruit and weigh: you need 300g of sugar per 500g of fruit.
- Put feijoa peel and cores and roughly chopped apples into a pan; barely cover with water. Cook until soft and mushy, about 10 minutes.
- Strain through a fine sieve, pressing firmly to get all the liquid from the apple. In a large heavy bottomed pot cook chopped feijoas in this liquid until soft. Push through a sieve or mash.
- Add sugar to the feijoa pulp; stir until dissolved.
- Cook slowly on the lowest heat, stirring every 2-3 minutes until thick. This will take about 3hrs – when it’s ready the spoon should start to meet resistance and the mixture will start to come away from the sides.
- Pour while hot into straight sided sterilised jars and seal with lids.
*As an alternative, line a straight-sided flat dish with baking paper. Pour in mixture and smooth over with a knife. Give the dish a couple of taps on the bench to settle the paste. Leave to set for 2-3 days in a warm dry place, then cut into cubes when cold and firm. Dust cubes with icing sugar and pack in a tin or jar, or place in a box lined with waxed paper, with the added sifted icing sugar.
