ketchup

I am that crazy person who after the sixth time forgetting to purchase ketchup at the grocery store, I make it.  I usually have the ingredients in the house in some for so I thought why not.  I did not have all the powders and salts but I did have the real vegetables.  Why not?

When it was done, I got asked if it would be okay to put it on pizza.  It is ketchup silly wolves!

I did this in a crockpot very slowly so there was not a lot of watching or worrying about burning. 

ketchup

2 28 ounce cans of peeled roma tomatoes

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 chopped onion

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 clove

In a crockpot, combine all the ingredients.  The water can be used to clean out the tomato cans if needed.  Cover and put on high.  After about 12 hours blend.  There should be no lumps at all in the blended vegetables.  It will be a puree.  Cook the puree down until it is half its volume or the consistency of the ketchup you like.

It took me two days.

I got about two pint jars of ketchup.  I have not checked to see if it gets put on mjustat when I am not around so there may be less now.  This has much more depth then store bought ketchup and when Nancy Reagan said ketchup could be considered a vegetable, this is more of a fruit puree.  Because tomatoes are fruit.

If you want more spice, add some cayenne.  Basically, when I looked at ketchup recipes, it was all about what you wanted the ketchup to taste like.  Tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and salt were the constants.