Heinz is promoting ketchup as a way to create a dessert that you can make for your loved ones this Valentine's Day.
The unusual ingredient adds just the right tint of color and a subtle sweetness to one of America's favorite and most enduring desserts -- apple pie. However, given that tomatoes were once known as love apples, the notion of combining ketchup and apple pie isn't so far-fetched. And by adding ketchup to this sweet treat, you can get an extra dose of lycopene -- the important antioxidant found abundantly in processed tomato products. Although lycopene is found in fresh tomatoes, research shows that consuming processed tomatoes is better, because cooking breaks down the cell walls of the tomato and makes it much easier for lycopene to be absorbed in the body.
"We've been promoting the health benefits of lycopene for nearly a decade," said Debbie Foster of Heinz. "Consequently, we're always looking for unique and innovative ways that people can add more processed tomato products to their diets. Even though they're often surprised by the combination, people love our Love Apple Pie. And isn't an extra serving of lycopene a wonderful Valentine's Day present?"
The recipe for Heinz Ketchup's Love Apple Pie:
1/3 cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
2 tsp. lemon juice
6 cups tart cooking apples, peeled and sliced (about 2 lbs.)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Blend Heinz Tomato Ketchup and lemon juice; combine with apples. (Note: If apples are very tart, add 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar to ketchup mixture.) For topping, combine flour, sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter until thoroughly mixed. Fill pie shell with apples; sprinkle topping over apples. Bake in 425 degrees F oven, 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are cooked. Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.