So now we have September. And September for me is a month where we make some tomato preservatives. One of the key ones is our homemade ketchup.
There are many reasons why I make homemade ketchup.
A few reasons why you should eat ketchup:
- source of vitamins – incl. B2, B6, C, E
- source of minerals – among others Na, K, Cu, Mn, P, Mg, Fe
- good source of lycopene – a powerful antioxidant that deals with free radicals,
- anti-cancer and cardiovascular support
- lycopene contained in long-cooked tomato purees and ketchup is better absorbed than that the one in fresh tomatoes
- contains more tomatoes per 100 g of finished product than its store counterparts (300 g tomatoes per 100 g of ketchup) – the more tomatoes used to make ketchup, the more vitamins, minerals and lycopene it contains
- does not contain white sugar, dyes, preservatives, thickeners and other additions
- has a safe packaging – you store your homemade ketchup in glass jars, which are most recommended for contact with food, as they do not react with food ingredients (plastic can)
- making it is more environmentally friendly – jars can be used repeatedly and easily recycled
All the above reasons are crucial but the cherry on the cake for me is the fact that with homemade ketchup the food tastes simply better!
Of course, ketchup is not the only thing we make out of tomatoes. Check out our recipe for sun-dried tomatoes.
On the side note, we make much more of this ketchup that three small jars so if you want to do it as we do it just multiply the ingredients.
Ingredients for homemade ketchup:
- 1kg tomatoes,
- 180 g red pepper,
- 130 g red onion,
- 2 garlic cloves
- 100 red wine vinegar
- pinch of nutmeg
- 10 mustard seeds
- 10 grains of black pepper
- 1 bay leaf, dried
- 1 tsp hot pepper
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 100 g honey
Method:
- Firstly wash clean and chop tomatoes, red peppers and onion.
- Add them to a pot alongside half a portion of red wine vinegar and cook on medium heat for about 45 minutes stirring from time to time.
- Heat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius. Put the jars and lids separately in the preheated oven and hold them for about 20 minutes – so that the jars and caps are scalded and pasteurized.
- Then add the remaining red wine vinegar, garlic, spices and honey, cook 15-20 min until the mixture thickens a little.
- Then blend it in a blender so the mixture will be nice and smooth and heat it up slightly again before putting them in jars.
- Transfer to twist jars, after turning, turn the jars upside down, leave for about 10 minutes to cool.
- About three small jars come out of this portion.
Are you interested to make some preserves at home? Here is our selection of best home-made recipes for preserves.
Send to us photos of your creation and tag us on social media @cravemonkeypl (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
