I like to make as much of what I eat from scratch. I used to prefer Heinz Ketchup over any others. Since I got this recipe from another cooking forum I belong to I have not bought Heinz again.
Ketchup I think this recipe came from Hillbilly Housewife
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup simple syrup (I use corn syrup)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
dash of cloves
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and slimmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove pan from heat and cover until cool.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
I grow a few varieties of tomatoes. I make a lot of my own paste because you can use it in so many things & doesn't take up much space in the pantry.
Here is the recipe I have been using for paste.....
Tomato Paste by Molly Watson
You'll need
5 lbs. of tomatoes
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup good quality olive oil
Large pot
Food mill or large sieve
Large rimmed baking pan
Container(s) for the paste (2 or 3 half-pint jars with lids are perfect)
Preheat an oven to 300°F.
Remove and discard stems and any damaged parts from the tomatoes. Roughly chop the tomatoes and put them in a large pot. This can be a very rough chop - you just want to get the tomatoes started to break down.
Note: If you're working with tomatoes than contain a lot of juice, you might want to halve them and squeeze out and discard the seeds and watery juice in the center to help speed up the concentration process that will turn tomato puree into tomato paste.
Add about 1/2 cup olive oil and 1 tsp. salt to the tomatoes and bring them to a boil over high heat. Cook, stirring, just until tomatoes soften, about 2 minutes. This brief cooking helps break the tomatoes down a bit and makes them easier to run through a food mill or sieve.
Note: If you have a tomato mill or food mill and a strong arm, you can skip this initial cooking step, if you like.
Run the cooked tomatoes through a food mill or push them through a large sieve with a flexible spatula - you're trying both to turn the tomatoes into a pulp and to remove the skins and seeds.
At this point, you can proceed one of two ways. If you started with not-too-juicy tomatoes and you have a few large sheet pans, you can directly pour the tomato pulp onto one or two large rimmed baking sheet(s) and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for about 3 hours.
If your tomatoes were juicier or you don't have a large enough rimmed baking sheet, feel free to boil down the tomato purée on the stove first. Reduce it by up to one-third (or even one-half if your tomatoes were super juicy) by bringing it to a simmer and maintaining a steady simmer until the tomatoes have reduced. Then, you can pour this more concentrated tomato mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet or smaller roasting pan to finish reducing it in the oven. (While it is possible to reduce it entirely on the stove, it's tricky business to get it to the right consistency without burning it. I vastly prefer to make it in an oven.)
However you reduce your pureed tomatoes, be sure to stir them frequently (every 30 minutes or so if they're in the oven; every 15 minutes or so if they're on the stove), taking care to scrape up any caramelized bits along the edges of the pan or bottom or sides of the pot and re-incorporating them into the mixture.
After the tomatoes have reduced significantly (between 1/3 and 1/2), reduce the oven heat to 250°F degrees. Continue baking (and stirring and scraping at regular intervals) until the mixture is thick, shiny, and the color of bricks, up to 2 or 3 more hours.
Once you have cooked the tomatoes into a thick, delicious paste, I highly recommend transferring it into several half-pint jars. You can keep it in the refrigerator or process the jars in a hot-water bath for keeping shelf-stable.
To Keep the Jars In the Refrigerator: Use a flexible rubber or silicone spatula to transfer the tomato paste into jars. You will have 2 to 3 cups. Leave room at the top of each jar to pour a thick layer of olive oil to protect the paste. Cover with lids and store for up to several months in the refrigerator. Each time you use some, make sure the surface of the tomato paste is again covered with oil. To reduce the chance of mold developing, make sure to use scrupulously clean utensils for removing tomato paste from the jar.
To Process the Jars: Bring a canning kettle of water to a boil. Use a flexible rubber or silicone spatula to transfer the mixture into sterilized, hot, pint- or half-pint jars, leaving about a 1/2 inch head space in each jar and running a thin knife along the sides of each jar to release as many air bubbles as possible (I tend to pound the jars on the counter a few times to try and get inevitable air bubbles out of the thick mixture). Put sterile lids that have been softened for a few minutes in hot water and patted dry on the jars. Set the jars in a canning rack and submerge in the boiling water of the canning kettle (making sure the boiling water covers the jars by at least an inch) for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Store in a cool, dark place (a pantry or cupboard is fine) for up to 1 year. Once opened, store in the fridge and, as with the unprocessed jars, use clean utensils for removing tomatoe paste from the jar to reduce the risk of mold developing.
Ketchup I think this recipe came from Hillbilly Housewife
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup simple syrup (I use corn syrup)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
dash of cloves
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and slimmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove pan from heat and cover until cool.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
I grow a few varieties of tomatoes. I make a lot of my own paste because you can use it in so many things & doesn't take up much space in the pantry.
Here is the recipe I have been using for paste.....
Tomato Paste by Molly Watson
You'll need
5 lbs. of tomatoes
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup good quality olive oil
Large pot
Food mill or large sieve
Large rimmed baking pan
Container(s) for the paste (2 or 3 half-pint jars with lids are perfect)
Preheat an oven to 300°F.
Remove and discard stems and any damaged parts from the tomatoes. Roughly chop the tomatoes and put them in a large pot. This can be a very rough chop - you just want to get the tomatoes started to break down.
Note: If you're working with tomatoes than contain a lot of juice, you might want to halve them and squeeze out and discard the seeds and watery juice in the center to help speed up the concentration process that will turn tomato puree into tomato paste.
Add about 1/2 cup olive oil and 1 tsp. salt to the tomatoes and bring them to a boil over high heat. Cook, stirring, just until tomatoes soften, about 2 minutes. This brief cooking helps break the tomatoes down a bit and makes them easier to run through a food mill or sieve.
Note: If you have a tomato mill or food mill and a strong arm, you can skip this initial cooking step, if you like.
Run the cooked tomatoes through a food mill or push them through a large sieve with a flexible spatula - you're trying both to turn the tomatoes into a pulp and to remove the skins and seeds.
At this point, you can proceed one of two ways. If you started with not-too-juicy tomatoes and you have a few large sheet pans, you can directly pour the tomato pulp onto one or two large rimmed baking sheet(s) and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for about 3 hours.
If your tomatoes were juicier or you don't have a large enough rimmed baking sheet, feel free to boil down the tomato purée on the stove first. Reduce it by up to one-third (or even one-half if your tomatoes were super juicy) by bringing it to a simmer and maintaining a steady simmer until the tomatoes have reduced. Then, you can pour this more concentrated tomato mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet or smaller roasting pan to finish reducing it in the oven. (While it is possible to reduce it entirely on the stove, it's tricky business to get it to the right consistency without burning it. I vastly prefer to make it in an oven.)
However you reduce your pureed tomatoes, be sure to stir them frequently (every 30 minutes or so if they're in the oven; every 15 minutes or so if they're on the stove), taking care to scrape up any caramelized bits along the edges of the pan or bottom or sides of the pot and re-incorporating them into the mixture.
After the tomatoes have reduced significantly (between 1/3 and 1/2), reduce the oven heat to 250°F degrees. Continue baking (and stirring and scraping at regular intervals) until the mixture is thick, shiny, and the color of bricks, up to 2 or 3 more hours.
Once you have cooked the tomatoes into a thick, delicious paste, I highly recommend transferring it into several half-pint jars. You can keep it in the refrigerator or process the jars in a hot-water bath for keeping shelf-stable.
To Keep the Jars In the Refrigerator: Use a flexible rubber or silicone spatula to transfer the tomato paste into jars. You will have 2 to 3 cups. Leave room at the top of each jar to pour a thick layer of olive oil to protect the paste. Cover with lids and store for up to several months in the refrigerator. Each time you use some, make sure the surface of the tomato paste is again covered with oil. To reduce the chance of mold developing, make sure to use scrupulously clean utensils for removing tomato paste from the jar.
To Process the Jars: Bring a canning kettle of water to a boil. Use a flexible rubber or silicone spatula to transfer the mixture into sterilized, hot, pint- or half-pint jars, leaving about a 1/2 inch head space in each jar and running a thin knife along the sides of each jar to release as many air bubbles as possible (I tend to pound the jars on the counter a few times to try and get inevitable air bubbles out of the thick mixture). Put sterile lids that have been softened for a few minutes in hot water and patted dry on the jars. Set the jars in a canning rack and submerge in the boiling water of the canning kettle (making sure the boiling water covers the jars by at least an inch) for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Store in a cool, dark place (a pantry or cupboard is fine) for up to 1 year. Once opened, store in the fridge and, as with the unprocessed jars, use clean utensils for removing tomatoe paste from the jar to reduce the risk of mold developing.
