All ketchups standing on the shelves of the stores look very nice and tempting because they are packed in bright bags and bottles. This is a common marketing ploy. But upon their close examination, acquaintance with the composition, it turns out that they are thick because an impressive dose of starch or other thickeners is added to a small number of tomatoes, and there is a lot of unnatural in the package marked “natural product”.
The only way out is homemade billet, the quality of which will never cause doubts.
Tomato paste ketchup - basic technological principles
The presence of the word “tomato” in the name of the sauce indicates its main component. Do not rush to buy tomato paste, because it can also contain more starch - not very useful carbohydrate, instead of the concentrated content of vitamins and valuable minerals contained in tomatoes. Moreover, its cooking at home will not cause much trouble, and they will be rewarded with a truly natural product.
Preparation of ketchup category “Extra” begins with the preparation of tomato paste or tomato puree. For the tomato base of sauces, ripe tomatoes are selected, squeezed out the juice and boiled to medium consistency. Further fragrant spices are added to the tomato puree. The composition of high-grade ketchup can include apples, onions, carrots, but not more than 7-10%. These components not only complement the taste of the sauce, but also serve as a natural thickener.
The main difference between homemade ketchup is that housewives never preserve starch, do not use amplifiers and taste stabilizers. Moreover, the cooking and sterilization of the sauce, the presence of a whole complex of antioxidants in tomatoes, preserves the product reliably and permanently.
As for taste, it can always be recreated by adding spices and spicy herbs, as written on the favorite label, with the only difference that this taste will be created at home, on a natural basis, with love and concern for the health of their loved ones.
1. Ketchup from tomato paste “Chili”
Ingredients:
Tomatoes ripe 6 kg
Chili pepper, red (without grains) 3-4 pcs.
Salt 50 g
Sugar 120g
Vinegar 150 ml
Cooking Technology:
Sort ripe tomatoes. For the preparation of tomato paste, it is preferable to select tomatoes of fleshy varieties: they will boil faster to the desired thickness. In order not to add water to the paste, and to preserve a more natural taste, cut the selected fruits into slices, mash, put in a saucepan and boil until soft. When the thick is cool, wipe through a sieve to remove the skin and seeds, again pour the juice into the pan, and boil down to the consistency of thick sour cream - this density should be in the finished ketchup.
Add sugar and salt, chili, chopped in a blender. Boil for ten minutes, then pour in nine-percent vinegar, mix and pack in a heated sterile container - cans or bottles with a wide neck. Twist, cover. After air cooling, transfer to a cool place.
2. Ketchup from tomato paste to kebab
Ingredients:
Natural tomato paste 1 kg
Pepper “Ratunda”, semi-sharp 5 pcs.
Chile, red 2 pcs.
Garlic 100g
Coriander
Carnation
Walnuts 200 g
Allspice
Hops suneli
Onions 300g
Salt 70 g
Sugar 150 g
Apple vinegar 100 ml
Cooking Technology:
Peel and cut randomly peppers, onions and garlic. Put fried kernels of nuts in a blender, add garlic to them, chop. Gradually add peppers and onions. Kill the whole mass to a uniform consistency and combine with tomato paste. If necessary, add boiled water. Boil the sauce for about fifteen minutes over moderate heat, stirring occasionally.
Add salt and sugar, spices - to taste. After adding the spices, boil the ketchup for no more than five minutes so that their flavor does not evaporate. Add vinegar to the prepared sauce, bring it to a boil again, and pour it into hot, dry jars.
Ketchup can be corked with plastic caps and stored in the refrigerator.
3. Ketchup from Tomato Paste “Gentle”
Ingredients:
Bulgarian pepper 1 kg
Apples 0.5 kg (net)
Onions 500g
Carrots 450g
Tomato paste 1.2 L
Cinnamon
Garlic 120g
Carnation
Chile
Allspice
Coriander
Sugar 250 g
Vinegar 200 ml
Salt 120 g
Celery Root 100 g
Cooking Technology:
Peel apples and vegetables, mash them in any way possible using kitchen appliances. Applesauce is advisable to immediately place in an acidic environment, so wipe them with a sprinkle of vinegar. Rub celery and carrots on a fine grater, so that there are no microparticles in the ketchup.
Put the carrots and celery root in the pan first, boil them until soft, smash the mass with a blender, and then add the remaining ingredients. Chop the spices, add to taste.
Boil ketchup for 10-15 minutes. For long-term storage at room temperature, pour into sterile dishes and pasteurize. For use, you can pour into dry jars and cover with plastic covers.
4. Tomato paste ketchup with provencal herbs
Ingredients:
Sugar 90 g
Wine Vinegar 75 ml
Salt 30 g
Provencal herbs (dry mix) 100 g
Tomato paste 700 g
Onions 300g
Sweet pepper 500 g
Hot pepper (chili or cayenne) - to taste
Dried paprika 100 g
Olive oil 150 ml
Cooking Technology:
Peeled onions, dried paprika and sweet red pepper chop to a puree-like consistency. In this mass, add all the ingredients except vinegar, which must be added to the last. Stir, boil the mass on low heat for about ten minutes. Pour in vinegar, stir again and pour hot in a sterile container, immediately closing.
For long-term storage at room temperature, ketchup must be pasteurized for 15 minutes (for cans or bottles, with a capacity of 0.5 l).
5. Tomato paste ketchup - an unusual recipe
Ingredients:
Cherry-plum 0.5 kg
Honey 300 g
Yellow tomatoes 3 kg
Onion 250g
Salad pepper 500g
Ginger (fresh root) 100 g
Carnation 7-8 pcs.
White pepper 40g Salt - to taste
Lemons 1 pc.
Cooking Technology:
From tomato yellow varieties obtained the same tomato paste, as well as red tomatoes. But in order to shorten the preparation time of ketchup, remove bones from ripe cherry plum (even a little overripe!) Peel the onions, peppers, and ginger. To keep the intrigue in the preparation of yellow tomato ketchup, use yellow pepper salad too - remove the seeds, cut it arbitrarily. Chop all the ingredients thoroughly, mash the puree in a saucepan and cook slowly, with constant stirring, removing the foam.
After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the stove, cool the mass, wipe through a sieve - in the ketchup there should be no skin and seeds - this is its secret. Pour the mashed potatoes back into the pan, add honey, ground spices, salt, and cook to the desired consistency. Make sure that the mass is not burnt.
Optionally, the sauce can be given, in addition, mint or juniper flavor. Hot yellow ketchup pour in dry hot jars, spin. Store in a dark cool place.
6. Ketchup from tomato paste to fish stew - quickly and simply
Ingredients:
Quince 2 pcs.
Onions 200g
Coriander 10 g
Carnation 3 pcs.
Chile 1 1/2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Tomato paste 300 g
Dill seeds 15 g
Lemon 1 pc.
Sugar - to taste
Cooking Technology:
Peel onions and quince, chop to puree. After removing the lemon zest, squeeze out the juice, and pour them mashed potatoes. Mix the mass with tomato paste, add sugar and salt to taste. Boil the sauce for 5-10 minutes to eliminate the raw taste. Crush spices in a mortar, add them to ketchup at the last moment, before removing from the stove. Cover the dishes. Let the sauce stand for at least half an hour. Add the fresh lemon zest.
The sauce can be stored in a clean and closed jar in the refrigerator for a month. This is a versatile ketchup for meat, fish and vegetable dishes. It can be prepared at any time of the year, in the presence of tomato paste, and used as needed.
Tomato paste ketchup - tips and tricks
To avoid mold growth on the surface of jars with tomato paste or ketchup, which happens when a leaky capper is installed, heat the refined vegetable oil (1-2 tbsp per jar), cover the surface of the tomato paste with a greasy film.
From six kilograms of ripe tomatoes, meaty varieties, one kilogram of tomato paste, one and a half kilograms of mashed potatoes or tomato ketchup is obtained.
To make the spices always have a bright and rich flavor, grind them immediately before use.
Unusual and savory taste to tomato ketchup will give dried vegetables - paprika and tomatoes. They will also help to achieve a more saturated, dark red color.
For thickening sauces there is no need to use flour or starch containing carbohydrates. In addition, with such additives there is a risk of rapid deterioration of the product, if we are talking about preserving the sauce for the winter. An excellent thickener for ketchup is pectin found in apples, currants, quince, gooseberries. Fruits will add additional flavors to the sauce, and will not spoil the shape, like starch.
Tomato ketchup can be prepared at any time, having on hand your favorite spices and a jar of tomato paste, and this set of ingredients is almost always in the kitchen of every hostess. Therefore, planning to cook pizza or spaghetti, bake meat, do not rush to buy ketchup in the store. Remember that a normal sauce with spicy spices can not be cheaper than tomato paste, which can often be seen in supermarkets.
