I should apologize now…
I’m sorry that my blog is about to be overrun by tomatoes.
I went a little over board at the farm this weekend when it came to picking tomatoes. At the CSA, there is a green house almost fully devoted to tomatoes. There are so many shapes, sizes, and colors that it resembles very closely to a kid being in a candy store. Shortly after my visit to the farm, I went to visit my grandparents who also have a plethora of tomatoes plants and when asked if I needed tomatoes, I couldn’t say no. I mean, my grandpa’s tomatoes are what childhood memories are made.
So what’s a girl to do with so many tomatoes? Make ketchup!
I was extremely excited when I found the recipe from Jaime Oliver. I have always avoided making ketchup because I figured I would have to peel and de-seed all of the tomatoes before I even started. However with this recipe, everything is thrown into a pot and pushed through a sieve later.
With most things homemade, this ketchup doesn’t taste like Heinz but honestly, I think it taste better. I reduced the sugar in the recipe by a little just because my ketchup came out a bit too sweet.
I think this will definitely go on my “homemade christmas gift list” this year! Next up is making some bbq sauce with this ketchup!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 large red onions, diced
- 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger (or 1 tablespoon of ginger powder)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons cloves
- a large pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- 1½ cups water
- 2½ pounds of fresh tomatoes, roughly diced
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- In a large stock pot, add olive oil and all the ingredients through cayenne pepper. Cook over medium low, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened.
- Stir in the water and tomatoes (I used an assortment of cherry, roma, and slicing tomatoes.) Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and continue to cook until the tomatoes half reduce by about half.
- Remove from heat, add the basil, and using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, pulse until mixture becomes smooth. Pass through a sieve twice and pour back into a clean pot.
- Add in red wine vinegar and brown sugar and simmer until the sauce reduces to a thicker version. Taste and add additional seasonings as needed.
- At this point the ketchup with keep in the refrigerator or can be canned.
PS: M and I are both afraid of this squirrel. He is way too friendly for comfort and moves too quickly for our liking…

















