It wasn’t until I started growing my own veg that I realised it was possible to have a glut of strawberries. Even though I can practically inhale these amazing fruits, especially when I’ve just picked them, sun-warmed, from my own garden, it is possible to have too many at once.
Oddly, I’ve never been a big fan of strawberry jam, so it seems rather a waste to use up a glut of marvellous strawberries on something I’ll only reluctantly eat (damson and blackcurrant are vastly superior). Fortunately, I’ve found plenty of other very clever ways to use up any strawberries I can’t scoff straight away, and here they are:
Strawberry risotto: No, this isn’t a posh way of saying ‘rice pudding’. This main course with parmesan and onions sounds awful, but tastes utterly amazing and looks beautiful. Serve it to someone you utterly love.
Strawberry mojito: incredibly cool.
Strawberry salad with herbed goat’s cheese: strawberries do actually work marvellously well in savoury sishes, as they are as sharp as they are sweet. And they look fab as well.
Strawberry and rosemary caramel buckwheat tart: take a look at this gorgeous recipe and give thanks for the number of strawberries it requires.
Strawberry and basil balsamic gelato: If you’re fed up of basic strawberry ice cream, try this souped-up version featuring basil as the mystery guest.
Strawberry fruit roll-ups: a perfect lunchbox snack for children and great way of preserving strawberries for a long time.
Strawberry peach vodka popsicles: naughty and cool. Perfect for a boozy afternoon party.
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Image a day
Thursday
I had such a glut last year I ended up blitzing them in a blender and freezing them in blocks. Defrosted, they make a tasty sweet ‘sauce’ to pour over a handful of blueberries and plain yoghurt. The combination of colours look amazing. This year, for the first time, I have resorted to making jam and am pleasantly surprised how much I’ve enjoyed doing it, with its frisson of “will it work?” and how good it is. I used the three day jam recipe from the rather delightful ‘Rose Petal Jam’ book by Beata Zatorska. No jam sugar, just strawberries and caster sugar, reduced down over three days til it’s the colour of an Australian Shiraz. I think I may be hooked.
Jan
I make soft set french jam-doesn’t keep but great with plain yogurt or good bread. I also like sliced strawberries with slices of brie in a pitta bread, with a bit of black pepper!