Roasted Chili Tomato Ketchup
I >3 chilies! My favorite local chili nursery, Valley Creek, produces a wide variety of capsicums (aka red peppers or chili peppers) from seeds collected around the world. We can buy plants or a range of chillies on weekends to try in a mix of recipes. This weeks’ bounty included Lemon Dream, Real Deal and Criolla De Cocina from Nicaragua - and no, these are not marijuana strains.
Today we are following our heart and remixing the boring old ketchup that holds its place on your fridge door shelf. We are spicing up the old and tossing a few of these international beauties into a homemade tomato ketchup, guaranteed to make you want to throw out your store bought sauce. It also makes for a perfect unexpected addition to your celebratory Labor Day grilling.
If you’re in NYC and are after a tasty plant-based burger, my favorite options are from @lekkaburger. While I unfortunately can’t make a quick stop to NYC, thank to Gold Belly, we’ll be enjoying these Lekka Burgers with homemade brioche buns and garnishing the burgers with Windy City crunch lettuce from @gothamgreens ~ what’s cooking in your Labor Day kitchen?
Preheat the oven to 400˚
Roast the vegetables – Place the carrot, shallot, garlic, tomatoes and chilies on a parchment lined pan. Bake for 1.5 hours until caramelized. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Place the vegetables in a food processor. Add the balsamic vinegar, dark brown sugar and spices. Purée until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Place in a lidded jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
makes one 16 oz jar
CHILI TOMATO KETCHUP
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 large shallot, peeled and cut in half
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 lb heirloom tomatoes, peeled and seeded, cut into chunks
3 chilies of your choice, mix it up with sweet and spicy peppers
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
¼ tsp each cinnamon, ground cumin and ground allspice
a pinch of ground cloves
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp blackstrap molasses, optional