Oven-Roasted Tomato Catsup
Here’s how to use your homegrown tomatoes to make your own catsup.
This catsup will become a kitchen staple when you see how much punch and flavor it adds to soups, sauces, fish, poultry and meat.
Oven-Roasted Tomato Catsup
Yield: about 4 cups
¼ C balsamic vinegar
¼ C light brown sugar
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
Place all the ingredients except the salt and pepper and hot sauce in a non-reactive 1-quart saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture comes to a simmer. Cook for five minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the bay leaf. If you like smooth catsup puree the mixture in a food processor until desired consistency, or run it through a food mill to achieve a mixture with slightly more body. Another option is to leave it as is to make chunky catsup by simply mashing it briefly with a potato masher. You can store the catsup in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container for several weeks. It also freezes beautifully in a tightly sealed container or freezer-strength re-closeable plastic bag. Yield: about 4 cups.
