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Greek Ketchup

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crazy flavorful Greek ketchup

crazy flavorful Greek ketchup

Better than ANY ketchup you’ve ever tasted, this “Greek ketchup” is completely sugar and corn syrup free and honestly puts all other to shame. Seriously!

I first tasted this in the small town of New Prokopion on the island of Evia. It was January, rainy and a chilly 50 degrees when we tucked into a neighborhood tavern for a bite. I ordered fried potatoes which came to the table with a small dish of what I assumed to be regular, old ketchup. Wrong!! This was better

than any ketchup I’d ever tasted!! Ok, a lot of exclamations points for ketchup but kid you not, I was scooping out the very last drops with no embarrassment whatsoever.

So many yummy of flavors of Greece in one little bowl, I had to get the recipe. Full disclosure here – my spoken Greek is rudimentary and my pronunciation has been openly laughed at so you can understand how much I wanted this recipe when I tell you I approached the chef myself to ask for the secret.  After a painfully long and broken request, the taverna owner graciously shared the ingredients. Here is his recipe with measurements converted:

Ingredients

  • 2 cups roasted tomatoes
  • 1 cup roasted red bell peppers
  • 4-5 cloves roasted garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt/pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in mortar and pestle, mash well. Its best not to use a blender or food processor because the mixture tends to liquefy when combined too quickly.

mash with mortar and pestle

Mashing by hand gives you the flexibility to choose a chunky almost salsa-like consistency, or a smoother more ketchup-like texture. It’s up to you, mash until you’re happy with it.  Season to taste and there you have it – Greek Ketchup!

Depending on what you’re eating with it, you can add your favorite herbs for yet another layer of flavor.

It’s amazing with fried potatoes but I guarantee you’ll find yourself putting it on everything.

greek ketchup with oven potatoes

It’s incredible on a veggie burger or soy hotdog and even tossed with pasta – my favorite! Let me know your favorite ways to use it. A healthy, delicious alternative to store bought condiments, I promise, this simple spread will instantly Greekify any dish and will not disappoint.

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6 Responses to Greek Ketchup

  1. Gary August 7, 2012 at 6:37 pm #

    Thanks so much for this! I’ll try it asap.

    This morning I woke up thinking of the scrambled eggs were served at an open air restaurant on the waterfront of a small island that for the life of me I can’t recall the name of. Scouring the map I still haven’t found it, but anyway there was nothing like the crude, chunky, earthy taste of this “ketchup”, especially as it mixed with the feta in the eggs.

    I had to at least scramble some eggs this morning with some parsley and feta, then try some Heinz on it … not good. In fact, I scraped as much of that HFCS-loaded stuff off and continued on. But now am eager to try your recipe — thanks again.

    • Kiki August 8, 2012 at 5:04 pm #

      I know you’re going to love this ‘ketchup’, you described it perfectly! I honestly haven’t had a store bought ketchup in the house for years now, there’s just no comparison. Please let me know how you like it 🙂

  2. Christine June 14, 2015 at 4:17 am #

    In this recipe, is the red pepper a capsicum and if so how many would make up a cup? I’m so glad you convinced the chef to give you the recipe 🙂

    • Kiki June 14, 2015 at 1:41 pm #

      Roasted bell peppers – just clarified that above, thanks for asking! I measure a 1 cup (dry measure) scoopful of chopped roasted red peppers. Hope this helps and yes, so glad the chef was kind enough to share 🙂

  3. Evon April 17, 2016 at 7:37 am #

    Hi Kiki, how long can this be kept/stored?

    • Kiki April 21, 2016 at 8:13 pm #

      I’ve kept it, covered in the fridge, for a little over a week and it’s just fine! honestly, it never last that long at all 🙂

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