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Prep time
10 minutes -
Cook time
1 hour 30 minutes -
Makes
4 cups
Author Notes
From the I Love New York cookbook by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara
Note: The original recipe calls for 8 large beefsteak tomatoes in order to produce about 5 cups of roasted purée. I filled two sheet pans with about 9 1/2 pounds of both beefsteak and cherry tomatoes, and I got about 14 cups of purée. Roast as many tomatoes as you wish, but you will need at least 3 pounds for this recipe. The extra juice freezes well.
Reducing: After the tomatoes are roasted and passed through a food mill, they will be reduced with sugar and vinegar until the mixture is about 3 1/2 cups. You can eye this—as long as the mixture is thick and looking somewhat like ketchup, it will be fine—or you can do this trick before you start cooking: Fill whatever pot you are going to use with 3 1/2 cups water; take a skewer or chopstick and dip it into the water; mark where the water hits the skewer/chopstick with a marker or a rubber band. Once you have this stick marked, you can dip it into the reducing tomato mixture to gauge how it is doing. —Alexandra Stafford
Test Kitchen Notes
Curious about the origins of ketchup? Tune into the episode of Either Side Eaters, where co-hosts Jen Phanomrat and Katie Quinn discuss its less-than-obvious history. —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
Ingredients
3 to 5 pounds
tomatoes, cherry, beefsteak, plum (see headnote)
3/4 cup
canola oil, divided
1/2 cup
diced onion
2
cloves garlic
1 cup
brown sugar
1 cup
cider vinegar
1 to 2 tablespoons
distilled vinegar
1 to 3 tablespoons
salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450° F. Core and quarter the tomatoes and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Place the tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in the oven until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Pass the tomatoes through a food mill. This should yield about 5 cups of purée. If you have leftover purée, freeze it—it makes a very nice Bloody Mary. In a large straight-sided pot, heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sweat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato purée, brown sugar, and cider vinegar. Raise the heat to medium-high to high, stirring frequently to avoid burning, and reduce the mixture to 3 1/2 cups, or until thick and coating the back of a spoon. You can also simmer this slowly over medium to medium-low heat—this may take as long as an hour. (See headnote above in regards to reducing.)
- Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend on high while streaming in the remaining canola oil. Pass through a chinois (optional) and season with the vinegar and salt to taste, starting with 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt.
- Transfer to a glass jar, cover, and keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.