Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup

Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup
rec.food.preserving/Krista Manson/1999

Here's a pretty tasty recipe for red bell peppers. It makes a great additive to spice up spaghetti sauce, dip nachos in, as a dip for chicken. It's from "The Bountiful Kitchen" by Barry Bluestein & Kevin Morrissey (revised a bit to save on typing)

2 Lbs Red Peppers
1/4 cup minced white onion
1 cup water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

First you roast the peppers, there are a few ways of doing this:

Broiler - You can cut them in half, seed and devein them and cook them skin side up under your broiler till they blacken and blister. (about 5 minutes)

Gas Cooktop - Stick a fork in the end of the whole pepper and use the fork as a handle to blacken it over your gas cooktop flame

BBQ Grill - Cook as many whole peppers as you want on your Grill turning them as the sides begin to blacken. (this is the easiest way to cook lots of peppers, I did 36 in about 30 minutes).

After the peppers are blackened, you scrape the skin off with a fork & butter knife, quarter and put aside in a colander. Rinse the peppers off well to remove any charred pieces.

Combine peppers, onions and water in a non reactive pan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered.

Put into a food processor or blender and process till smooth. Return mix to pan. Add remaining ingrediants. Bring to boil over medium high. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Put into hot sterile jars and seal. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Set jars upside down on dishtowel to cool about 2 hours. Catsup is ready to use immediately.