Tomato Jam

I’m going to tell you something today that I’ll bet you don’t know about me. I love ketchup. Adore it. I eat it like a six-year-old. On french fries. On hash browns. On hamburgers. And, yes, on steak. Especially on steak, much to the chagrin of servers in steak houses all around this area. It’s just not a steak to me without my ketchup.

This Tomato Jam recipe is what I would call grown-up ketchup. It has the usual sweet, spicy, tomato-ey taste of ketchup but is it ever kicked up a notch or three! This jam is so good it will make you want to rush over the stove to cook something just so you can have a spoonful of this on the side. No kidding. Use this as a condiment with anything where you’d normally serve ketchup. It’s great on a burger, especially a turkey burger. It’s fantastic with roast chicken and really wakes up your breakfast hash browns. The flavor is rich and tangy with a spicy kick from the red chili flakes. It’s also very similar in taste to asian sweet chili sauce. It also makes a great appetizer – spread a cracker or toasted slice of baguette with a little goat cheese and top with a bit of tomato jam – yum!

Just wait until you see how I used it in my next post. You’re going to love it!

2 ½ # cherry tomatoes, halved (about 4 pints)
1 ¾ cups sugar
Grated zest of 1 lime
4 tblsp. lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. red chili flakes

I bought four pint boxes of mixed cherry tomatoes to make my Tomato Jam, but you don’t have to use cherry tomatoes. Any tomato works fine, really. My four boxes weren’t quite 2 1/2 pounds, so I added one chopped Roma tomato to make up the weight.

If you’re using cherry tomatoes, cut them in half or quarters depending on their size. Isn’t that a gorgeous pile of tomatoes?

Combine the tomatoes, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and red chili flakes in a large non-reactive pot.

Bring the mixture up to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer.

Cook for 1 to 2 hours, stirring regularly, until the tomatoes become a soft, sticky, jammy consistency. The cooking time will depend on how high you keep your simmering temperature and may actually take up to 3 or more hours. Check the progress and stir occasionally until you achieve your desired consistency. I like mine very thick. My cooking time is actually closer to four hours because I keep my temperature very low. I’d rather cook it lower and longer so I don’t have to watch it so closely. If you simmer at a higher temperature you could risk scorching the jam. When cooking is complete, remove the pan from the heat. Spoon the jam into a jar and store in the refrigerator.

Makes about two pints.

Enjoy!

–(Link to original recipe from Food in Jars – http://www.foodinjars.com)

Other tomato jam recipes you might enjoy:

• Homesick Texan’s Tomato Jam
• Oven Roasted Tomato Jam from The Kitchn
• Green Tomato Jam from Seattle Bon Vivant
• Martha Stewart’s recipe for Tomato Jam
• Sicilian Tomato Jam from Over a Tuscan Stove