Zing up your summer outdoor meals with this recipe from World Spice at Home : New Flavors for 75 Favorite Dishes (Sasquatch Books, September 2014) by Amanda Bevill and Julie Kramis Hearne.
Berbere Ketchup
Your burgers and fries will taste better than ever with Berbere Ketchup. The mild heat and rich flavors of berbere blend together perfectly with the tomatoes. This version has a notable but mellow spice level, so add more berbere if you want to really feel the heat. And, to turn one sauce into two, just add a few extra ingredients to the ketchup and you’ve got cocktail sauce with a twist!
Makes 4 Cups
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground berbere
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons flake or kosher salt
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened. Sprinkle with the berbere and stir to coat. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until the berbere is fragrant.
Add the tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, lemon juice, and salt and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it thickens to the consistency of ketchup. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Cool the ketchup to room temperature. You can keep your ketchup chunky and rustic, or transfer it to a blender and process until it is uniform and smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container; the ketchup will keep for up to 2 weeks.
Note: You can easily adapt this ketchup into a wonderful cocktail sauce. Simply mix 1 cup of the Berbere Ketchup with ¼ cup prepared horseradish and 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice. Serve with your favorite seafood as a dipping sauce.
*(c)2014 By Amanda Bevill and Julie Kramis Hearne. All rights reserved. Excerpted from World Spice at Home: New Flavors for 75 Favorite Dishes by permission of Sasquatch Books. Photography by Charity Burggraaf)