Homemade Tomato Paste Ketchup

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Peel the onion and cut it into large pieces. Peel the garlic clove and grate it on a fine grater. Transfer both to a blender.

2. Step 2:

   

   Blend these until as smooth as possible — basically a purée. At this point you can add chopped fresh herbs to the blender if you like. I leave them out simply because I don't like the way they look in the finished ketchup.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the tomato paste and the onion-garlic purée into a suitably sized, heavy-bottomed pot or saucepan and pour in the filtered water. Stir and set over medium heat. As it cooks, the puréed onion will completely disappear into the finished ketchup.

4. Step 4:

   

   The tomato mixture comes to a boil very quickly. Add the salt and granulated sugar.

5. Step 5:

   

   Then the seasonings: bay leaf, allspice, and cloves. Make a note of how many whole spices you add, because you'll need to fish them all out at the end so they don't end up in the finished ketchup.

6. Step 6:

   

   Next, add the paprika. I use a heaping teaspoon because I love it, but go by your own taste — the paprika gives the finished ketchup a pleasant flavor. Stir everything together well and reduce the heat to its lowest setting. Once it's boiling, let the ketchup cook for about half an hour. Stir it now and then so it doesn't scorch.

7. Step 7:

   

   Once the ketchup has thickened to your liking, taste it to see whether it needs anything more — a little extra salt, for example. If you're happy with it, take it off the heat. Use a slotted spoon to remove all the whole spices; you won't need them anymore.