Recipe: Homemade Ketchup

I will never buy bottled ketchup again. This was relatively easy and came out so yummy, this is exactly why I love doing the Nola Locavore Eat Local Challenge: new food discoveries.

Would I have ever thought to make my own ketchup on my own? Maybe eventually, but now I did it because I needed to and I won't ever look back!

I looked at a handful of recipes and got the idea: spice tomatoes, sweetener and just ran with it. I'm super happy with the end result. If you're not as lazy as I am, you would have done it right and removed the skins and seeds and extra water. I didn't feel like doing it and thought it was yummy and not so tedious and time consuming. A hand mixer/immersion blender makes the process super easy. Please excuse the vague amounts of ingredients--I just put stuff in the pot and made adjustments as needed.

All-local Nola Creole Tomato Ketchup

1-2 garlic cloves, diced
pecan oil
couple lbs of creole tomatoes, chopped
spicy oregano
salt
Steen's cane syrup
couple tablespoons of lemon juice

In a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat and sautee the garlic for about 30 seconds or until golden brown. Add the oregano and tomatoes and use a stick blender to puree the mixture. Add salt and a couple tablespoons of cane syrup to taste. Add in lemon juice. Cook the mixture down, stirring often until it thickens (about 20 minutes or so depending on the amount of tomatoes). Make adjustments to taste as needed. I used the stick blender again at the end just to make sure to get a nice smooth consistency. The sauce will thicken more as it cools. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. The info I've read on the interwebs varies, but I'd guess it can last about 3 weeks in the fridge and obviously longer in the freezer.