Spiced Pickled Strawberries

Last year I grew strawberries and found I didn’t have quite the haul I hoped. Certainly not enough to make jam. After a bit of contemplation I thought I would pickle my strawberries and had a vague idea of how to do it. I was quite certain there wouldn’t be any other recipes for it...after all who has ever pickled strawberries? A quick search on google revealed I wasn’t the original thinker I thought. Apparently pickled strawberries are a thing! I have however come up with my own recipe and I think it’s good.

It a well known fact that balsamic vinegar and basil are natural, albeit unexpected, flavours that enhance the taste of strawberries, so it wasn’t a leap of genius to use these ingredients to make my pickle. Try this recipe and let me know what you think. Bon chance!

Fills 2 x 250 ml jars

Ingredients for the pickling:

Peeled rind of one unwaxed lemon and juice

A tsp each of juniper berries, black peppercorns and cardamom pods

Extra freshly ground peppercorns for garnish

A tsp of balsamic vinegar

30 ml of red wine vinegar

130g sugar or raw honey

1/2 tsp of butter

A pinch of salt

500g of strawberries

6 large leaves of fresh basil chopped or torn

2 x 250ml jars with lids

To make:

1. Squeeze the peeled lemon and pour the juice into a small ceramic bowl. Put the peppercorns, juniper berries, and cardamom seeds into a pestle and mortar and grind to break up the seeds and release the flavour. Then place them on a clean piece of muslin and tie up securely. Add the bag to the lemon juice.

2. Cut the strawberries into quarters if large or in halves if small.

3. Toss the strawberries in a separate bowl with the sugar, vinegar, and salt. Cover and let sit at room temperature for a few hours (2-3), stirring occasionally.

4. Set a colander or large strainer over a wide, non reactive cooking pot. Scrape the strawberries and their juices into the colander or strainer so the juices go into the cooking pot. Remove the colander with the macerated strawberries in it and set aside.

5. Add the lemon juice, the spice bag, the lemon rind and the butter to the strawberry juices in the pot and cook over medium-high heat until the juices begin to thicken, about 6 or 7 minutes. Add the strawberries and continue to cook, stirring gently every so often, until the berries are plump and softened, but not bursting apart. It will take about 8 to 10 minutes. You want the berries to remain in fairly distinct pieces.

6. Remove from heat, then discard the spice bag as well as the lemon rinds. Grind a bit more black pepper into the strawberries and ladle them into jars and cover.

Serve as a side to cheese sandwiches, drizzle over a bowl of vanilla ice cream or add to mocktails or a G & T. Garnish with basil leaves.