Homemade Tomato Ketchup.
At this time of year, my go-to recipe for preserving tomatoes is either tomato soup, which I love, or oven roasted tomatoes with garlic and herbs. I use the fabulously garlicky sauce, which I freeze in batches, for making things like spaghetti bolognese, moussaka or chilli. It’s sweet, delicious and totally free from additives, which I love. Sometime though, you need something a little bit different to give a little more variety to the store cupboard. This home-made tomato ketchup is a little bit spicy and very delicious. Perfect with home-made pasties or to liven up a quiche or maybe a salad.
Ingredients.
- 4 good-size onions, roughly chopped
- 250g celery very roughly chopped
- 5 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 short cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp allspice
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp celery salt
- 2kg ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- ½ tsp Tabasco sauce
- 200ml white wine vinegar
- 200g golden caster sugar
Before you start, sterilise your bottles.
JAR STERILISING
Method
1.Put the onions and celery into a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Heat the oil in a very large saucepan, add the onions and celery, cover, then soften over a low heat for 5 mins. Add the garlic, cook 5 mins more, then tip in the spices and cook for 1 min. I don’t actually like celery so left that bit out and added more onions and tomatoes.
2. Now stir in all remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Keep on a bubbling simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour until the tomatoes are squashy and the liquid has reduced by several inches. Discard the cinnamon stick.
3. Whizz the mix with a stick blender until smooth, then sieve into a bowl. The ketchup will thicken a little when it cools, but if yours seems very runny (this will depend on the juiciness of your tomatoes), put it back on the heat and cook a little longer, stirring often, until reduced. Keep the ketchup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months, or freeze in batches. If you like, keep in sterilised bottles or jars for up to 6 months
