Friday, February 12, 2010

Homemade Tomato Ketchup

• 1 large red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• ½ a bulb of fennel, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 stick of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
• olive oil
• a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• ½ a fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• a bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks chopped
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 cloves
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt
• 500g amazing cherry or plum tomatoes, halved plus 500g tinned plum tomatoes, chopped
or
• 1kg yellow, orange or green tomatoes, chopped
• 200ml red wine vinegar
• 70g soft brown sugar

Bizarrely enough for a chef, I really do take my hat off to Heinz, who have become the global brand of quality in the ketchup world. It’s such an everyday cupboard product that you’ve probably never thought to make your own. But if you’re growing tomatoes in the garden, or you catch sight of some really beautiful ones at the market in summer, just think how much of a treat it would be to offer your family or guests homemade ketchup. It’s great fun to make. And you can make different colours of ketchup using just yellow, orange or green tomatoes – simply exchange the cherry and tinned tomatoes for the same amount of your chosen coloured ones.

Place all the vegetables in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan with a big splash of olive oil and the ginger, garlic, chilli, basil stalks, coriander seeds and cloves. Season with the pepper and a good pinch of salt.

Cook gently over a low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until softened, stirring every so often. Add all the tomatoes and 350ml of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the sauce reduces by half.

Add the basil leaves, then whiz the sauce in a food processor or with a hand blender and push it through a sieve twice, to make it smooth and shiny. Put the sauce into a clean pan and add the vinegar and the sugar. Place the sauce on the heat and simmer until it reduces and thickens to the consistency of tomato ketchup. At this point, correct the seasoning to taste.

Spoon the ketchup through a sterilized funnel into sterilized bottles (see page 324 for ways of doing this), then seal tightly and place in a cool dark place or the fridge until needed – it should keep for six months. Great with steaks and chips.

Recipe Courtesy Jamie Oliver.
Picture Courtesy whatsforsupper

1 comments:

The Ketchup Girl on 3:54 AM said...

wow. Ma always made her own ketchup. Always. She made it for the entire year when tomatoes were in season and came cheap. I remember when ketchup was made, the entire house filled with its aroma. She used bay leaf and lots of ginger and garlic along with lots of other spices, which she tied around a muslin cloth and that in turn was tied to a ladle from which it would hang, right into the tomato purée on the gas. That contraption was a huge enigma for me. Always looked at it as some kind of ketchup machine. :) Have u tried making this? And i am such a fan of jamie Oliver.

 

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