Tomato Harvest Ketchup

This recipe combines just picked tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and celery. It’s thick and smooth with a rich, complex flavor you’ll never find in store-bought ketchup. (If you want store-bought flavor add double or triple the amount of sugar in the recipe.)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive or other oil
• 8 pounds tomatoes (24 medium), cored and quartered
• 2 bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped
• ½ cup roughly chopped onion (1 medium)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• ¾ cup RAW sugar or honey
• 1-2 cups cider or wine vinegar
• 1½ inches stick cinnamon, broken
• 1½ teaspoons whole cloves
• 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped or 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

1. Core and quarter tomatoes; drain. Chop the bell peppers, onions, and celery.
2. Place olive oil in an 8- to 10- quart stainless steel, enamel, or nonstick heavy kettle or pot or large saucepan and turn heat to medium-high. Combine the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, and celery. Cook covered about 20 to 30 minutes stirring often until tomatoes have broken down and the vegetables are soft.
3. Press tomato and vegetable mixture through a food mill or sieve. Discard skins and seeds. Return the pulp and liquid to the kettle; stir in salt, sugar, and cayenne. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer over medium heat, uncovered for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until reduced by half; stir as needed to make sure it does not stick.
4. Combine the vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, and celery seeds in a small saucepan and heat to boiling. Remove from heat. Use a strainer to pour vinegar mixture into the tomato and vegetable mixture discarding the spices. Simmer, uncovered about 30 minutes or to desired consistency, stirring often. Taste and add the remaining vinegar if the mixture is not tart enough.

Notes

Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, or can or freeze.

To Can: Ladle hot ketchup into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars; leave a ½-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. Process in a boiling-water canner for 15 minutes (start timing when water returns to boil). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks.

To Freeze: Place kettle in a sink filled with ice water; stir mixture until cool. Ladle ketchup into half-pint freezer containers; leave a ½-inch headspace. Seal and label. Store in the freezer for up to 10 months.