Homemade Ketchup

by Barry Lewis

Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
60 mins

Ingredients

20 medium sized tomatoes

4 garlic cloves

3 sticks of celery

2 medium onions, chopped

5tbsp olive oil

3tbsp tomato puree

few drops of tobasco sauce

60ml white wine vinegar

100g caster sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp celery salt

Alright so this recipe for homemade ketchup is really fun to make, it’s very easy to customise also, for example in the video and this recipe the tomato and garlic is roasted, that is completely optional but does drive significant flavour into it, the ketchup will keep in the fridge for a whole week too.

First up set your oven to 200c or equivalent, see temperature conversion charts in a large roasting tray arrange the garlic and the tomatoes, drizzle on some oil and coat them so they are glossy. Place in the oven to roast until the skins are just starting to char in colour. You can go even more with this if you want and fully char the tomatoes for a more smokey vibe. Remove from the oven.

In a large saucepan add the olive oil, onions and celery. Cook over a medium flame for about 5 minutes to soften up the onions and celery, don’t completely fry them, next add in the tomatoes and garlic from the oven, the tomatoes will be super softened but you can squish them a bit with a wooden spoon to break them up a bit, the pan will look a little watery but that’s ok, continue heating over a medium heat on the hob until it just starts to simmer.

Add in the remaining ingredients stirring through well, then continue to heat on a steady simmer until it has reduced down considerably. It may still look a little watery though but as the mix is so hot that is why and it will firm up once chilled. But anyhow we’re not quite done, get a stick blender or even if you wish pour the mix once cooled a little into a food processor or nutri bullet and really whizz this thing up to get it as smooth as you can, remember you can still tweak the flavour if you want to add any more sugar, tobasco etc to taste.

Once done pass through a sieve and store in a large jar, allow it to cool to room temperature first before putting in the fridge where it will thicken. This is super delicious to try hope you put your own spin on it, maybe add some peppers or even bacon as suggested in the video! Nice!