When I posted my home made mayo recipes a while back, a friend asked me for a ketchup recipe. It's been a little while coming, for which I am sorry, but here it is. Or rather, here they are, as I am posting a couple of options below. When first asked about a ketchup recipe, having only made it a couple of times before I took a look around other recipes and let the ideas percolate for a while (and got busy with work and potty training a toddler, among other things)... and then didn't get back to it right away.
Yesterday was a very rainy day though, so I decided it was a good time to have something simmering away on the stove all afternoon (well, several somethings. We made yogurt, apple pectin, salted caramel ice cream, goat's cheese and burger buns too.) When checking different methods a while back, there was a debate on whether to use tomato passata and paste or chopped tomatoes (from a tin or fresh), so I decided to do both yesterday and see how they came out and which I liked best. I also used dried vs fresh garlic and onions in the two recipes. I therefore made two basic variants, and then tweaked, separated out portions and tried further variants through the afternoon.
In the evening, having been informed by my Guinea pigs that the only way to truly test ketchup was with a burger and some fries, I made burgers with fresh buns and my sister brought down her fryer to make chips. Long story short, we tried four different ketchup variations yesterday, detailed below. We all liked all of them (and all ate a bit too much). So here they are.
Ketchup One: Sharp and Bright
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
800g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, minced
4 small cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Sweat the onions and garlic until soft, then add the oregano and cook for another minute.
2) Add other ingredients and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened. Blitz until smooth and taste test, adjusting as necessary.
Ketchup Two: Deep and Rich
Ingredients:
3 c tomato passata
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried onion
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Briefly fry the dried garlic, onion and oregano then add the passata, vinegar and sugar.
2) Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Taste test, adjusting accordingly.
Ketchup Three: Sharp and Rich
Ingredients:
3 c tomato passata
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried onion
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Briefly fry the dried garlic, onion and oregano then add the passata, vinegar and sugar.
2) Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Taste test, adjusting accordingly.
Ketchup Four: Deep with a bite
Ingredients:
3 c tomato passata
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried onion
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp (or more) tandoori powder/paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Briefly fry the dried garlic, onion, oregano and tandoori, then add the passata, vinegar and sugar.
2) Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Taste test, adjusting accordingly.
We enjoyed all four Ketchups enormously. Hubby declares he never wants to buy ketchup again. The four different ketchups all had great flavour, and all of them actually tasted like tomatoes. This was very easy to make, but it did require time spent in or near the kitchen to stir regularly. My favourites were probably One and Three. I made all of them using white sugar. Given that I was already comparing the effect of fresher ingredients vs passata and dried garlic and onions, a further variable I thought would muddy the waters, but I would like to try it with brown sugar at some point as well. I also intend on trying other tweaks, like different herbs or spices, different base vegetables, and tweaking the quantity of garlic etc. I'll keep you posted! And in the mean time, don't hesitate if you have questions, suggestions or ideas!
NB: This ketchup is entirely natural. Sugar and vinegar are both to a certain extent preservatives, but not really in these quantities, so be aware that this won't keep as long in the fridge as commercial ketchup. I will see how mine does and let you know!