Unusual recipes with strawberries, sweet and savory

We present delicious ideas to take advantage of the final phase of the strawberry season.

Strawberry is probably the most popular spring fruit and one of the easiest to grow in gardens and balconies. If you have a few plants, many may mature at the same time and you will use some original recipes to get the most out of them. It will also help you to take advantage of the offers on the market (if possible, choose organic strawberries).

RECIPES WITH UNCONVENTIONAL STRAWBERRIES

STRAWBERRY HOT SAUCE

You can easily prepare a sweet and spicy sauce with strawberries. It tastes great like grill sauce with vegan seitan or textured soy fillets, as a sauce to dip some nachos or to accompany roasted vegetables.

Ingredients (for 550 g strawberry sauce):

• 500 g fresh strawberries
• 1 tablespoon tomato concentrate
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar, an alternative to sugar or honey
• 2 small shallots or onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cm of a ginger bulb
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 30 ml water
• Salt
• Pepper

Depending on your taste, you can add other fresh spices and aromatics such as cilantro or basil.

Elaboration:

1. Peel the shallots and garlic and cut into thin cubes along with the ginger.
2. Fry the cubes with the tomato concentrate and olive oil in a pan for one or two minutes.
3. Add the vinegar, sugar, water and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, wash and clean the strawberries and dice them. Then add them to the pan, cook another five or ten minutes and season with salt and pepper.
5. Immediately pour the finished sauce into sterilized jars while it is hot and close the lids.

Strawberry sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four weeks.

SHELLS WITH STRAWBERRY FILLING

Homemade shells with strawberry filling are an easy way to use strawberry harvesting. They are baked in a glass jar and then immediately closed hot if you want to keep them for weeks. These shells are a wonderful snack to take to a meeting or to treat yourself.

Ingredients (for 8-10 yeast rolls in a jar):

• 600 g whole wheat or spelt flour
• 350 ml (vegetable) milk at room temperature
• 70 ml olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar or a sugar-like alternative
• 1/7 cube fresh yeast or <> packet dry yeast (<> g)
• 170 g strawberry puree (see below),
• 1 pinch salt
• 8-10 glass jars with screw cap

Ingredients (for fresh strawberry puree):

• 150 g fresh strawberries
• 1-2 tablespoons apple molasses or other liquid sweetener (depending on strawberry sweetness and personal preference)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Elaboration:

1. Dissolve the yeast in (vegetable) milk at room temperature and add the mixture to the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. If you use dry yeast, mix it with the other dry ingredients beforehand. Add the oil and knead everything until you get a smooth dough. Form a ball.
2. Cover the dumpling and let it grow in a warm place for about 1h until it doubles in size.
3. Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the strawberry puree in a high bowl and mix until smooth with the hand mixer.
4. Prepare the jars for filling by smearing them inside with a little oil and sprinkling them with flour.
5. Knead the yeast dough again briefly and then spread it evenly over a floured work surface, about the size of a 30-by-45-centimeter rectangle. Spread with strawberry mash or jam.
6. Cut the dough rectangle into strips transversely with the blunt side of a knife so as not to scratch the work surface.
7. Roll each strip to form a conch.
8. Place each coiled shell upright (with the vertex pointing upwards) in a jar. Bake the filled jars in a preheated oven at 195°C top/bottom temperature (175°C convection) for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
9. If you can’t resist the delicious smell of freshly baked shells, it’s best to carefully pull them straight out of the jar and eat them while they’re still hot.

PICKLED GREEN STRAWBERRIES

When ripe strawberries are boiled, they soften a lot. Green strawberries, however, retain their firm consistency and have a pleasantly bitter taste.

In this way, you can also use strawberries that were harvested too early, as well as those that did not finish ripening at the end of the strawberry season.

Ingredients:

• 500 g green strawberries
• 500 ml apple cider vinegar
• 250 ml water
• 2 tablespoons honey, an alternative to honey or sugar
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chili (optional)
• sterilized screw jars

Elaboration:

1. Clean, wash, dry the strawberries and place them in layers on the glasses, pressing lightly and leaving a centimeter to the edge.
2. Place the peppercorns, mustard seeds and chilli pepper over the strawberries.
3. Heat the water, apple cider vinegar, salt and honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Pour the liquid over the strawberries until they are completely covered. Immediately close the jars tightly and shake gently.
5. Once the jars have cooled, they are stored in the refrigerator.
6. You can boil the jars before and thus extend the shelf life of this pickle up to a year.

ASPARAGUS AND STRAWBERRY SALAD

An asparagus salad with strawberries is a varied way to combine the popular spring fruit with healthy green asparagus.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 500 g green asparagus
• 100 g green leaves (arugula, canon, tender spinach or similar)
• 100 g strawberries
• 50 g grated Parmesan or Almond Parmesan
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey or a vegan substitute
• Salt and pepper

Elaboration:

1. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus stalks and cut the stems into bite-sized pieces. If you use white asparagus, peel it, cook it al dente and cut it into pieces.
2. Mix lemon juice, vegetable oil, mustard, honey, salt and pepper with a whisk. Marina the asparagus in this mixture.
3. Cut the strawberries into small pieces and add them to the asparagus with the clean lettuce and cheese.
4. Mix briefly and let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.