Homemade Tomato Ketchup from Fresh Tomatoes Recipe

Name: Homemade Tomato Ketchup from Fresh Tomatoes Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 200
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Ripe tomatoes 1.5 kg; Salt, black peppercorns, allspice, nutmeg, dried aromatic herbs, cumin, sugar, wine vinegar, ground hot pepper to taste

Tomato ketchup is the most affordable and widespread sauce made from ripe tomatoes. There is hardly anyone who has never heard of ketchup. When I was little, I first saw a tall bottle with a red cap, brought from Bulgaria. A very tasty sauce. The funny thing about it was that you had to shake it out of the bottle, which was great fun.

Contrary to the popular belief that ketchup was born in Europe along with the arrival of tomatoes, that is not the case. Ketchup is thought to come from Southeast Asia, China to be precise. But of course the original sauce was not made from tomatoes. At first it was a sauce of salted anchovies and nuts, with mushrooms and beans added, probably soybeans or other beans. Today only the name remains of that very first sauce, although similar mushroom sauces do turn up from time to time.

In the early 19th century, American cookbooks began publishing recipes for tomato ketchup for the first time. By and large, any tomato sauce consists almost entirely of ripe tomato pulp and spices. That is, not counting the additives that stabilize the sauce and extend its shelf life.

A little over 100 years ago, tomato ketchup was produced in a factory for the first time. The problem with factory-made sauce is its thickness and storage. Most manufacturers make ketchup from tomato paste or add starch or xanthan gum, so they have no trouble with thickness and pourability. Shelf life, sadly, is extended with preservatives and other “wholesome” additives. No wonder ketchup is firmly among the top foods that are bad for your health.

Homemade tomato ketchup can be made from nothing but tomatoes and spices, without any chemical additives. It will not necessarily keep for very long. But, as proven in practice, it gets eaten very quickly, so there is no need to worry about long storage.

For this sauce you need very ripe red tomatoes with a high dry matter content and small seed pockets. As a rule, such tomatoes appear closer to autumn. It is worth saying that even a small jar of tomato ketchup takes more than 1 kg of tomatoes. Besides that, you need ordinary spices found in every kitchen.

Ingredients

200 ml of sauce

Ripe tomatoes 1.5 kg
Salt, black peppercorns, allspice, nutmeg, dried aromatic herbs, cumin, sugar, wine vinegar, ground hot pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

If very ripe red tomatoes have flooded the market or your garden, it is time to make fermented tomatoes and tomato ketchup. For ketchup you need large, very ripe tomatoes of a nice red color without white patches. Ideally, the variety should have a high dry matter content. Such varieties are usually grown for making tomato sauce and tomato paste, for salting and canning.
Put the tomatoes ready for processing into a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. After 1-2 mins, douse the tomatoes with cold water so they cool down and the skin comes loose.
One at a time, carefully peel each tomato of its cellophane-like skin. Cut the tomato in half and carefully remove the seeds. It is easiest to do this with a small knife, cutting the seed pockets away from the flesh. Try to make sure no hard seeds are left, otherwise the tomato ketchup will have clearly noticeable bits in it, and that is unpleasant.
With a sharp knife, remove all the white parts inside, as there are almost always some. Also cut out the core where the green stem was. If a tomato turns out brownish inside, it is no good.
Next, the tomato flesh needs to be ground into a smooth purée. The easiest way is to put the tomato flesh into a blender and blend thoroughly. To get rid of any hard bits completely, such as leftover core and skin, I recommend also rubbing the purée through a sieve or a mesh colander. Despite all my care during preparation, almost a tablespoon of hard bits was left in the sieve.
Homemade ketchup will be cooked with natural spices only, without any chemical additives. I settled on the following spice mix. Put into a mortar 3-4 allspice berries, 5-6 black peppercorns, 1-2 pinches of ground nutmeg, a quarter teaspoon each of cumin and dried aromatic herbs: basil, oregano, savory, mint, and so on. Add 0.5 tsp of sugar and 2-3 pinches of salt.
Grind the spices very finely. I also recommend sifting the aromatic spice mix through a tea strainer. You will most likely need to add salt and sugar to taste, but at the final stage of cooking. Mix the tomato purée with the spices and add 1 tbsp of natural grape vinegar.
Put the pot of tomato purée on the heat, medium or below medium. Do not rush the heating, ketchup easily sticks to the bottom of the pot. Stir the tomato purée with a wooden spoon so it heats evenly. Do not cover the pot with a lid. And one more thing, be careful: thick tomato purée spits large drops very aggressively when it boils, like a volcano.
Stirring often, simmer the tomato purée over low heat until it is thick enough for a sauce. This can take up to half an hour, which is usually enough. Taste the ketchup and add wine vinegar, salt, sugar and, strictly to taste, a little finely ground hot red pepper. Stir the ketchup once more and let it boil for 1-2 mins.
Without preservatives, homemade ketchup does not keep long. But if you like, you can pour it into prepared jars while it is still boiling, seal them and sterilize for 10-15 mins in boiling water or an autoclave. I wrapped the hot jars in a wool blanket until they cooled completely and kept them in the fridge for several weeks. Then the ketchup was eaten to the last drop.
So, the homemade tomato ketchup is ready. As it cools, the sauce will thicken a little more thanks to the pectins in tomatoes, so the final consistency will be just right.
Tomato ketchup is a wonderful, pleasant sauce. It is easy and quick to make. It goes perfectly with grilled meat or kebabs. Any homemade pizza spread with this ketchup will be superb. By the way, tomato ketchup makes an excellent marinade for shashlik.
If you are planning a picnic or a backyard barbecue, put the tomato ketchup in a sauce boat and add herbs, hot pepper pods, garlic cloves, fresh bread or a lavash appetizer. Treat yourself to a feast and a delicious meal.