Nancy’s organic, homemade ketchup was all the rage at this year’s 9th Annual FarmAde.
This recipe should yield about 4 litres, which may be a lot for singles or couples. However, because it is time consuming, this quantity is probably worth the time and effort. Ideally, the tomatoes, onions and garlic should be organic, as they were for FarmAde.
- 12# of fresh, ripe tomatoes
- 3# of yellow onion
- 1 head of peeled garlic
- 2 cups of apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup each of honey, molasses and brown sugar (molasses has a pretty distinct taste, so it can easily be substituted for more honey or sugar)
- 1 tablespoon each of dry mustard powder, all spice, black pepper and cayenne pepper (this gives it a bit of a kick and can be adjusted according to taste)
- 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
- 3 tablespoons of salt
- 1.5 to 2 cups of tomato paste
Wash, core and chop the tomatoes, peel and rough chop the onions and mince the garlic.
Put these 3 ingredients in a large, heavy bottom pot and sweat on low heat until the tomatoes break down.
Add the apple cider vinegar and simmer until the onions and garlic (and tomatoes) have softened completely (about ½ an hour).
Add the sweeteners and the seasonings and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally, being you sure you don’t scorch the pan.
Remove from heat, transfer to another large container and let mixture cool. Don’t bother washing the pot, you’ll need it again!
It is at this point that you can go to the trouble of straining out all the seeds and skin for a more sophisticated ketchup, but Nancy does not do this. Personally, she prefers it rustic, which is how it was prepared for FarmAde.
Taste for seasonings and sweetness and see how thick your mixture is, once cooled.
Transfer small batches of ketchup to a food processer and blend until smooth.
Tomatoes & onions have varying degrees of water and the thickness of your ketchup is personal taste. It is at this point where you would add as much or as little tomato paste to achieve the desired degree of thickness.
Once you have added the paste, pour ketchup back into the pot and simmer on very low heat for about ½ hour.
Depending on how quickly you plan on using up the ketchup, you can either pour it into sterilized canning jars to about an inch from the top, or just put it into clean glass containers and give some to your friends! It will keep for about two to three weeks like this in the fridge.
