Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar


I got this one from Tobie Puttock's Daily Italian. This book is supposed to be full of "cookable" recipes - not dishes that seem too complicated to make. And they do seem straight forward... if you have 5 hours for the dough to rest/rise or 2 days to slow cook your bolognaise sauce. So for this reason I was pleasantly surprised to find this simple recipe for dessert. It takes about 2 minutes to prepare, 5 to cook, and 2 to rest. I made it when my partner asked if there was anything sweet in the house, and I didn't feel like serving up plain vanilla icecream, yet was too full from dinner to make something complex!

And if the combination of flavours sounds strange to you, try it anyway. The sugar balances the vinegar and forms a delicious sauce for the warmed strawberries.

1 punnet strawberries, hulled (and halved if large)
1 tbsp castor sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 200C. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Take a large sheet of aluminium foil (Tobie suggests 40cm in length) and fold in half. Then fold each side in 2cm, leaving the top open. Stuff the strawberry mix in this hole, then fold over a couple of times to close and secure.

Place in oven and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and rest for a couple of minutes without opening the package. Whilst resting, spoon some icecream/cream/custard into serving dishes. Open package and share strawberries and cooking liquor amongst the bowls. Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Strawberries with balsamic vinegar is a classic but don't forget, don't use the stuff you put in salad dressing. That balsamic vinegar isn't real. Balsamic vinegar isn't vinegar but rather reduced wine. So, you need to use a good 25 year old balsamic vinegar.

    I make a great confection with orange, cinnamon and balsamic vinegar. Orange or better tangerine and balsamic vinegar is also classic.

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  2. I love making strawberries like this. I've always just stirred the balsamic and sugar into the strawberries and let them sit. I will have to try putting them into the oven. Welcome to the Foodie Blogroll!

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  3. Thanks apples and butter! I just looked at your page and man, am I drooling right now!

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