Homemade Tomato Ketchup

Without doubt Heinz has the monopoly on Tomato Ketchup and to be completely honest I love it! No BLT is complete without it, wedges or fries are a no-go unless I have some and don't get me started on having a fried or basted egg without some ketchup on the side!!! It is my junk food indulgence and I don't care!

Now while I have no problem eating Tomato Ketchup I had been suffering from motherly guilt after letting my wee guy try it for the first time about a month ago, which of course he loved! Does it make me a bad mum for giving him ketchup?....No, absolutely not and to be honest I can count on one hand how many times he has eaten it, but to ease my conflict I decided to make my own so that he can have all the ketchup he wants! That plus the fact I had a glut of tomatoes after going to the farmer's market made for a happy afternoon in the kitchen making up a batch of homemade Tomato Ketchup which is delicious. I definitely recommend trying this out if you are a ketchup fan...it's no Heinz but for me it's better!

{For a spicy version which I love add some chopped chilli and feel free to adjust the amount of sugar – it's all about personal taste and being able to control your sugar and salt. I wouldn't go less than 75g though but it's your call! Enjoy!}

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

2 cloves of garlic

1inch piece of fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick,

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 cloves

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2lbs tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

300ml water

100g soft brown sugar

125ml red wine vinegar

Salt

Heat the oil in a large pan the saute the onions and celery for roughly 10 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick, coriander, cloves and black pepper and cook gently for another 5 minutes, before adding the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, water, sugar, vinegar and some salt. Bring to a gentle boil then lower the heat and leave to simmer gently for roughly 1 hour until the sauce has reduced quite a bit and there isn't a lot of water or juice.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes then remove the cinnamon stick and pop the sauce into a blender and whizz until completely smooth then sieve the ketchup into a clean pan to ensure a silky smooth ketchup. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. If your ketchup is a little runny (based on the amount of juice from the tomatoes) return the pan to the heat and cook for a little longer until it has reduced further and to the consistency of ketchup. It will thicken slightly as it cools though. Pour the hot ketchup into bottles, jars or other containers and allow to cool before keeping in the fridge and enjoying whenever you fancy some homemade ketchup!

*One Year Ago - Mum's Perfect Pav with Rose-Scented Strawberries