This recipe is from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. Using “paste” tomatoes such as San Marzanos are ideal because of their low moisture levels. Quickly blanching the tomatoes (boiling them until the skins split then transferring them into ice water) helps to remove the skin efficiently. A quick squeeze of the peeled tomatoes can release most seeds. Processing with a food mill can help remove any skins or seeds you didn’t catch and will give the ketchup the right consistency. This homemade ketchup tastes divine and has quite a bit less sugar and salt than the store-bought kinds.
INGREDIENTS:
4 quarts chopped, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 24 large) 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium onion) 1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper (about 1/2 medium pepper) 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed 1 teaspoon whole allspice 1 teaspoon mustard seed 1 stick cinnamon 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon Ball Salt (or fine sea salt) 1 tablespoon paprika 1 1/2 cups vinegar
METHOD:
Combine tomatoes, onion and peppers in a large saucepot.
Cook until tomatoes are tender.
Puree using a food processor or food mill.
Cook puree rapidly until thick and reduced by half.
Tie whole spices in a spice bag or cheese cloth.
Add spice bag, sugar, salt, paprika and vinegar to tomato mixture and simmer until thick. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Remove spice bag.
Ladle ketchup into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust 2-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
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