Homemade Ketchup

     Whether you have too many tomatoes from your garden, don't have time to run to the store, or don't like all of the extra ingredients listed on the back of the bottle from the store... this recipe is for you!

       I like to start my ketchup by making tomato paste but you can skip this if you want to use canned tomato paste. If you do decide to use canned tomato paste, add 1/4 cup of water to this recipe. First, I cut up 4-5 fresh tomatoes and blend them until they're as smooth as I can get them. Once blended, I add them to my saucepan and start simmering. 

    Once my tomatoes have released most of their juice, into my pot goes my maple syrup (or honey depending on what I have on hand), vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, and salt.  I use a whisk to periodically mix everything until it has thickened. This takes about 10 minutes. 

    When my sauce has reached ketchupey thickness I take my saucepan off of the heat and wait for it to cool before I pour my ketchup into a container. The main struggle I have with homemade ketchup compared to store-bought is it is rarely quite as smooth. This can be remedied by putting it in a food processor and blending the crap out of it but I almost never have the patience for that. If you are like me, don't fret! Slightly textured ketchup is only noticeable if you are eating it plain! As soon as you put it on a burger, hot dog, meatloaf, or even in other homemade sauces, you don't notice. 

    What did you think of this recipe? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Use the comment section below!