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Home - Italian - Cherry Mostarda

Cherry Mostarda

This Italian-style fruit mustard is made with fresh cherries and Dijon mustard. It’s delicious in sandwiches, salad dressings and so much more!

Cherry mostarda is delicious condiment — use it in salad dressings, sandwiches, grilling and more!

Cherries are the “it” fruit in summer.

I know you could easily just kick back on a hammock and eat a bowlful of them on a nice day, but why not jazz up your life a little and make a cherry mostarda?

Making condiment sauces with seasonal, ripe fruit can a creative way to use up what doesn’t get eaten straight out of the fridge.

Fresh fruit mustards taste so much better than the usual mustard or ketchup you can buy and squeeze out of a plastic bottle.

What is mostarda?

Mostarda is a type of Italian condiment made with fruit and mustard. It’s tangy and sweet, kind of like a zesty ketchup.

This recipe is a riff on a traditional Italian condiment, mostarda di frutta, which is a sweet-hot-tangy preserve.

Most versions of a mostarda, like Mostarda di Cremona, tend to consist of whole pieces of fruit in a mustard and vinegar-laced sugar syrup, served with meats in northern regions of Italy like Tuscany and Piedmont.

Fresh ripe cherries are the star of Italian cherry mostarda

My recipe is very much inspired by Madeleine Kamman, the amazing French cooking teacher and food scholar.

Her book In Madeleine’s Kitchen includes some recipes for “Italian-style fruit puree mustards”.

Here are some ideas for using your homemade Cherry Mostarda:

(Because believe me, after pitting a few pounds of cherries you will not want to waste a bit!)

  • Use cherry mostarda in place of Dijon mustard in a salad dressing to make a cherry vinaigrette.
  • Spread a charcoal-grilled burger with mostarda – I seasoned chicken burgers with fennel and fresh rosemary and topped them with goat cheese and mostarda. Yum.
  • Glaze a pork tenderloin or some chicken wings with mostarda.
  • Put some on a ham sandwich.
  • Serve on a cheese tray, with crackers and fruit
Yield: 2 cups

cherry mostarda

cherry mostarda

A recipe for Italian-style cherry mustard, made with fresh cherries and Dijon mustard. It's delicious in sandwiches, salad dressings and so much more!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound sweet cherries, pitted
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup full-bodied red wine, such as zinfandel or malbec
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Instructions

  1. Combine everything except the Dijon in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer then lower heat and cook until reduced to a thick puree with the consistency of ketchup, about 1 hour over low heat. Stir in the Dijon off the heat and season if needed.
  2. Crush the cherries with a potato masher or pulse in a blender or food processor if you prefer a smoother texture.
  3. Keep in a covered jar in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2 cups

Serving Size:

1 tablespoon

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 110 Total Fat: 1g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 278mg Carbohydrates: 83g Fiber: 6g Sugar: 69g Protein: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate with your favorite calculator.
© Familystyle Food
Cuisine: italian / Category: Pantry

Fruit, Italian, Pantry cherries, cherry, condiment, italian, mostarda, mustard, preserves, sauces

About Familystyle Food

Hi there, I’m karen.

Home chef, food photographer, certified holistic nutritionist.

I’m a mom of two living and working in the NYC suburbs. When I’m not creating recipes, you can find me snuggling with my dog, Poppy and eating homemade popcorn.

Learn more here

Send me an email

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. sadie says

    May 23, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    I had to come back and let you know Ill be making this for my 5th year now and love it! I can never can enough of it to make it through the year!

    This makes a wonderful sauce for meats, great salad dressing and I love it smeared on a toasted brioche roll with a juicy hamburger, touch of blue cheese and grilled mushrooms and onions.

    Thank you so much for sharing it!

    Reply
  2. clothespin says

    November 29, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    Sounds lovely. I’m allergic to grapes… Any thoughts on substitutions for the vinegar and red wine?

    And yes, I realize that I can never live in Italy/France… The food would literally kill me. Sigh.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 2, 2014 at 4:31 pm

      Oh, Clothespin I feel for you! You’re right it could be very hard to avoid the temptation of grapes in Italy or France. As for the mostarda, you could try omitting the wine in the recipe and using rice wine or apple cider vinegar instead of the balsamic. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
  3. Jack Stoessel says

    May 7, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    Can this recipe be adapted for dried cherries?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      May 16, 2014 at 12:23 pm

      Jack, no I would wait until you can find fresh cherries in season. On the other hand, if you do make this with fresh cherries, a small handful of dried ones mixed in too would be great, I think.

      Reply
  4. The Cilantropist says

    July 16, 2011 at 10:06 am

    I am so excited about this idea!!! I made cherry preserves that were incredible with a cheese place and just about everything else (I looove cherries) but the idea of making mostarda is something new to me. Thanks so much for sharing this! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Carolyn Jung says

    July 6, 2011 at 10:50 pm

    I am so glad you posted this! I have had cherry mostardo on cheese plates and charcuterie plates, but never have tried making it, myself. But I just pitted and froze a pound of cherries. Might just have to put them to use in this. Yum!

    Reply
    • Tracey says

      September 29, 2019 at 6:50 pm

      Great recipe! Do you know if there’s enough sugar and acid to can it in a water bath?

      Reply
      • Familystyle Food says

        September 29, 2019 at 7:11 pm

        Hi Tracey – I haven’t tried making this as a traditional preserve in a water bath, so can’t really answer your question. I’m going to ask some preserving experts and update when I have more info to share. Hope you’ll try this in the meantime!

        Reply
  6. susan from food blogga says

    June 29, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    Hey Karen! I love this recipe and adore the idea of adding it to a chicken burger. What a way to go from ho-hom to haute!

    Reply
  7. Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum says

    June 29, 2011 at 5:27 am

    Any tips for pitting the cherries?? This looks beautiful, by the way!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      June 29, 2011 at 9:14 am

      Hi Lindsay,
      I use a a cherry/olive pitter, an inexpensive gadget.. You can also use a sharp paring knife – make a shallow cut all around the cherry, half and remove the pit. Either way, it’s kinda messy…

      Reply
  8. Natalie says

    June 26, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    Thank you for posting this recipe! I was trying to find something to spice up an appetizer for a dinner party tomorrow and this will work perfectly! Toast triangles with goat cheese, smoked duck breast and cherry mostarda. Yum!

    Reply
  9. sarah @ two tarts says

    June 25, 2011 at 6:35 am

    Did you pit your cherries by hand? I’m impressed! I did 1.5 cups the other day for some cherry ricotta muffins and was all pitted out after that… 🙂

    Reply
  10. Vanessa says

    June 24, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    I love the idea of this! I need to get my hands on some cherries!

    Reply
  11. Marie says

    June 24, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    Wow, this looks so unique and ecclectic! I’m not a mustard fan, but I wonder if I’d nevertheless end up liking this cherry version. Quite intriguing.

    Reply
  12. [email protected] says

    June 24, 2011 at 2:01 am

    Super photos.

    I know cherries with manchego is a popular combination in the Basque country. Do you think this Cherry Mostarda would work with the cheese? Maybe be go on a cheese board?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      June 24, 2011 at 6:58 am

      Ruthie – I love that idea! Yes, absolutely on a cheese board. Thanks for the suggestion.

      Reply

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