I’m addicted to tomato ketchup. I’ll put it on just about anything. In fact, there are some things I just won’t eat, if there’s no ketchup to hand, namely eggs, burgers, and *gasp* even fries. I admit it, for the most part, I’m really talking about Heinz ketchup, but there’s also room in my life  for a more complex, nuanced and well….more grown-up homemade ketchup. In short, it’s just a different sort of deliciousness to Heinz, but deliciousness nonetheless, and oh so gratifying because you made it yourself. So if you have a glut of tomatoes that you are looking to preserve, and savor throughout the year, get roasting, simmering and pureeing them into this rich, sweet and tangy condiment.

Make room bottle of Heinz, and welcome your new playmate.

Recipe after the jump!

Homemade Tomato Ketchup
Ok, I’m just going to confess straight away that there’s a can of diced tomatoes in this recipe. But there’s a perfectly good explanation. When I developed this recipe a couple of years ago, I found that using only fresh tomatoes didn’t give me the depth of flavor I was looking for – it wasn’t far off, but it also didn’t quite hit the mark. It could have been that they were English tomatoes, and were grown during a particularly rainy, cold summer, and just never attained their full flavor potential … It’s England, it happens!  In desperation, I threw in some canned tomatoes: it upped the flavor, and gave the ketchup the richness and complexity I was looking for.

If your tomatoes are ripe as can be, and bursting with lush, bright tomato flavor, you can absolutely omit the canned stuff, and just add more roasted tomatoes. You’ll also see that this recipe doesn’t yield a ridiculously large amount of ketchup; that’s because you live in a small apartment and you don’t need your shoes battling it out for storage space with a plethora of ketchup bottles!

Makes about 3 to 4 cups

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 1/2 lbs  best, ripe, aromatic tomatoes, halved
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, deseeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2  tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4  tsp. smoked paprika
½ cinnamon stick
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. all spice berries
2 bay leaf
1 tsp. blade mace (optional)
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 x 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 Tbs. tomato puree
2 Tbs. light brown soft sugar
2 Tbs. granulated  sugar
1/2 cup  cider vinegar

1 Tbs. corn starch, combined with 1 Tbs. cold water

You will also need a small square of muslin cloth and 1 large or 2 small bottles

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200F. Take a large roasting tin and drizzle  2 Tbs, of the oil over the base. Place the tomatoes cut side down. Roast for 8 hours in the middle rack of the oven, until reduced in size, shriveled but still juicy.
2. Heat  the remaining 2 Tbs. olive over medium high in a large pot, add the onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, followed by the mustard powder, cayenne and paprika. Cook for a further 15 minutes over a very gentle heat, stirring every now and then. Place all the whole spices inside the square of muslin, bring the four corners together, and tie up tightly.
3.  Add the canned tomatoes, roasted tomatoes and the bag of spices and simmer  gently for 20 minutes. Remove the bag of spices and wipe clean. Remove from the heat, and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
   Meanwhile put the vinegar and sugar in a small pot and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil until the vinegar has reduced by a third. Set aside.
4. Remove the bag of spices, but don’t discard, then transfer the tomato mixture into a blender or food processor and process until completely smooth, then pass through a fine sieve.
   Return the sieved mixture to a clean pot, add  the sugar and vinegar solution and the spices in the bag. Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer very gently for a further 5 mins. Remove the bag of spices.
5. Stir in the cornflour mixture, increase the heat slight and simmer for about 2 minutes until to thicken the ketchup and give it a bit more body. You are looking for a thick pouring consistency. Bottle immediately in sterilized containers (see tip) using a funnel to avoid making a mess. The ketchup will keep for up to 1 year and is best used after 2 weeks by which time all the flavours have had a chance to meld and the vinegar to mellow.

Tip: How to Sterilize your Bottles

If you want your ketchup to last, its essential to store it in sterilized bottles. Simply wash them in hot, soapy water then shake dry. Place on a baking sheet and put in a pre-heated low oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and bottle the ketchup while it is still piping hot and the bottles are still warm.

Be sure to label the ketchup with the date on which it was made so that you know how long you can keep it. Store in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight until opened, then pop into the fridge.