ketchup

So I started making polenta fries, and realized I was out of ketchup. I was super bummed, because Jeff, Liam, and I are all ketchup obsessed.  I know this probably sounds weird, but I was too lazy to walk to the liquor store two blocks away and buy ketchup...so I decided to make some from scratch instead.  I was already busy in the kitchen making the rest of dinner, why not make one more little thing at the same time, right?

Bonus:  Liam loooves ketchup.  I have to remind him to eat the item on his fork covered in ketchup instead of licking all the ketchup off and double dipping.  Making my own ketchup at least means I know what it contains.

No, I didn't put my ketshup in a super fancy pretty container.  This was spur of the moment, remember?  I happened to still have an empty ketchup container.  This recipe filled the whole thing, plus about an extra cup and a half.

Start by chopping up a yellow onion and garlic and cooking it on medium heat with the olive oil and salt until it softens.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook down the liquid until it starts to thicken.

Use an immersion blender to make nice smooth shiny ketchup.

It was so weird tasting this to make sure the taste was the way I wanted it because, hot ketchup!  So strange.

When you have gotten the flavor just right, bottle up your ketchup and store in the fridge.

I got almost a standard sized ketchup bottle and a half from this recipe.   It tasted really fantastic with fresh polenta fries by the way.  I think I'm sold on homemade ketchup for good.  The boys loved it too, not just crazy me.  :)

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ketchup

by Liesl July-25-2014

homemade ketchup

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 12 oz tomato paste
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium sized pot toss in a chopped yellow onion, chopped garlic, olive oil and salt. Stir occasionally on medium heat until the onion and garlic soften.2. Turn the tomato paste out into a large measuring cup. The paste plus added water should equal 28 liquid ounces. Add this to the pot in addition to the remaining ingredients.3. Bring the heat up to high until the liquid boils, then reduce the heat and simmer until the ketchup starts to thicken.Once the ketchup has thickened use an immersion blender to puree until smooth and shiny. Make sure to taste the ketchup before you bottle it up to make sure the seasonings are just as you want them!

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 1 and 1/3 bottles