Instructions: Cook the tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and garlic for forty-five minutes, or until very tender.

Pass the mixture through a fine strainer to remove the tomato peels and seeds, but collect as much pulp as possible. Add the remaining ingredients and the spice sachet to the pulp. Simmer everything over low heat for two to three hours, stirring regularly, until the mixture is thick. Remove the spice sachet.

To sterilize the jars before filling them, place them in the oven and heat them for a few minutes. Put the very hot ketchup into the jars, and immediately close them airtight. Store in a dark, cool place.

Yields two to two-and-a-half quarts.

With Little Added Sugar
More Solutions;

Adapted from Keeping Food Fresh, by The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante (Chelsea Green 1999). Full of old world techniques and recipes, Keeping Food Fresh is a gem of a book.

Simple Solution:
"Written by gardeners and farmers of the Centre Terre Vivant, an ecological research and education center located in southeastern France, this compilation of approaches to food preservation is more than 500 recipes strong, and none use canning or freezing. The authors believe that the traditional methods of food preservation are superior in every way to those two most widely used methods, that traditional, old world techniques preserve more flavor and nutritional content, are less costly, and use less energy." www.care2.com There is great ease in this ketchup recipe - no fear of exploding pressure canners. A recipe to save for a quiet and peaceful afternoon when you have an abundance of tomatoes.

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