Green Tomato Ketchup

This last weekend was garden cleanup time, and along with a ton of basil and fennel, we picked 10 pounds of unripened tomatoes off the vines. Our yellow pear, thai pink egg, purple calabash tomatoes didn’t fair so well with this year’s crummy weather. A lot of people would either throw away these too-young, late-season fruit, or drum up some fried green tomato recipes, but we decided to make some ketchup. Green tomatoes have an immature tomato flavor and a hint of sweetness similar to a zucchini.

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Ingredients:

• 6 pounds green tomatoes
• 3 pounds onions
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Colman’s dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons mixed pickling spices (i.e. chilies, coriander, cumin, ginger, all spice, cinnamon, bay leaves, brown and yellow mustard seeds, cloves, tumeric)
• 2 cups organic vinegar
• 1 cup organic honey

Preparation:

Slice green tomatoes and onions; place in a large pot with pepper, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Put the mixed pickling spices in a small cheesecloth bag and add to the mixture. Pour vinegar over all and cook for 4 hours over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Carefully puree mixture in a blender; strain through a mesh strainer. Return to pot and bring to boil; add honey. Immediately fill 5 sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Wipe the jar tops and threads clean with clean damp towels. Place hot sealing lids on the jars and apply the screw on rings loosely. Process in boiling water bath in a deep canning pot for 5 minutes. Remove the jars and cool completely. Tighten the jar screw rings to complete the sealing process. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, it is not sealed and must be refrigerated.) Let jars of green tomato ketchup stand at room temperature 24 hours. Store unopened product in a cool dry place up to one year. Refrigerate green tomato ketchup after opening.  Makes 5 pints of green tomato ketchup.

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