Homemade Tomato Ketchup

When tomatoes start to ripen in our garden, it's ketchup making time. My oldest son Linus, is mad for my home-made ketchup. It's full of fresh produce from our garden, all reduced down and finished with vinegar and brown sugar. It's a bit of work, but worth it to see it smeared on a sausage and all over his smiling face. Move over Mr Heinz.



Homemade Tomato Ketchup
slightly adapted from here

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 bulb fennel, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 stick celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 a fresh red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
Bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks chopped
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 cloves
Sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1kg  ripe tomatoes, chopped
200ml red wine vinegar
70 soft brown sugar

Place all the vegetables in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil and the ginger, garlic, chili, basil stalks, coriander seeds and cloves. Season with the pepper and a good pinch of salt.

Cook gently over a low heat for about 10 until sweated down and softened stirring now and then. Add all the tomatoes and 350 ml of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the sauce reduces by half.

Add the basil  leaves, then blitz the sauce in a food processor. Strain it through a sieve twice so that it is super smooth. Put the sauce into a clean pan and add the vinegar and the sugar. Place the sauce on the heat and simmer until it reduces and thickens to the consistency of tomato ketchup. Check the seasoning and adjust if needed.

Spoon the ketchup through a sterilized funnel into sterilized bottles, then seal tightly and store in the refrigerator.