Unusual Recipes With Strawberries, Sweet And Savory

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 can use some original recipes to get the most out of them. It will also help you take advantage of the offers in the market (if possible, choose organic strawberries).

Unconventional strawberry recipes

Strawberry hot sauce

You can easily make a sweet and spicy sauce with strawberries. It tastes great as a grill sauce with vegan seitan or textured soy fillets, as a dip for dipping nachos or to accompany grilled vegetables.

Ingredients (for 550 g of strawberry sauce):

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

Depending on your taste, you can add other spices and fresh aromatics like coriander or basil.

Elaboration:

1. Peel the shallots and garlic and finely dice along with the ginger.
2. Fry the cubes with the tomato paste and the olive oil in a frying pan for one or two minutes.
3. Add the vinegar, sugar, and 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 to ten minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Immediately pour the finished sauce into sterilized jars while hot and close the lids.

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

Shells with strawberry filling

Homemade Strawberry Stuffed Shells are an easy way to use strawberry picking. They are baked in a glass jar and then immediately closed hot if you want to keep them for weeks. These conches are a wonderful snack to bring to a gathering or to pamper yourself.

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

• 600 g whole wheat or spelled flour
• 350 ml of milk (vegetable) at room temperature
• 70 ml olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar or a sugar-like alternative
• ½ cube of fresh yeast or 1 packet of dry yeast (7 g)
• 170 g of strawberry puree (see below),
• 1 pinch of salt
• 8-10 glass jars with screw cap

Ingredients (for the fresh strawberry puree):

• 150 g of fresh strawberries
• 1-2 tablespoons apple molasses or other liquid sweetener (depending on the sweetness of the strawberries and personal preference)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon cornstarch

Elaboration:

1. Dissolve the yeast in milk (vegetable) at room temperature and add the mixture to the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. If you are using 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 ball of dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until it doubles in size.
3. Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the strawberry puree in a tall bowl and mix until smooth with the hand mixer.
4. Prepare the jars for the filling by smearing them on the inside with a little oil and dusting them with flour.
5. Knead the yeast dough again briefly, then spread it evenly on a floured work surface, about the size of a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. Spread with strawberry puree or jam.
6. Cut the rectangle of dough into strips crosswise with the blunt side of a knife so as not to scratch the work surface.
7. Roll each strip to form a conch shell.
8. Place each rolled conch upright (apex pointing up) in a jar. Bake filled jars in a preheated oven at 195 ° C top / bottom (175 ° C convection) for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
9. If you can’t resist the delicious smell of freshly baked conches, it’s best to carefully remove them straight from the jar and eat them while they’re still warm.

Pickled green strawberries

When ripe strawberries are boiled they become very soft. Green strawberries, however, retain their firm consistency and taste pleasantly bitter.

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 of green strawberries
• 500 ml apple cider vinegar
• 250 ml of water
• 2 tablespoons of 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 layer them in the glasses, pressing lightly and leaving a centimeter to the edge.
2. Place the peppercorns, mustard seeds, and chilli 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 marinade up to a year.

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

A strawberry asparagus salad is a varied way to pair the popular spring fruit with healthy green asparagus.

Ingredients for 4 people):

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

Elaboration:

1. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus stalks and cut the stalks into bite-size pieces. If you are using white asparagus, peel it, cook it al dente, and cut it into chunks.
2. Mix the lemon juice, vegetable oil, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper with a whisk. Marinate 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 sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.