Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Strawberry and Basil Compote

It's summer here and while I may not like the warmer weather I certainly do appreciate the bounty of fresh fruits on offer, including these delightful strawberries.

strawberry

While working on something to make for Blog Party #30 I really wanted to move past that whole strawberry and balsamic vinegar combination and decided to try a different companion for these berries - fresh basil.

Taking inspiration from tomato and basil and how well those two work together, my idea eventually involved into making a "sweet pesto" - leaving out the savoury elements, I made a simple paste of basil leaves, pine-nuts and icing sugar. One taste of this sweet pesto and I knew I was on the right track.


strawberry and basil compote


Strawberry and Basil Compote

strawberries, cut into small dice
icing sugar

Sweet Pesto:
basil leaves
pinenuts (or slivered almonds)
icing sugar


Prepare the strawberries:

Once you've cut all the strawberries into a fine dice, sprinkle over with a little icing sugar, stir well and then cover and allow to macerate. The fruit will become glossy and a lovely red liquid will form at the bottom of the bowl.

Make the Sweet Pesto:

I've left the quantities vague as you should make this is suit your own palette.

Place the basil leaves, pinenuts (or slivered almonds) and icing sugar into the bowl of a small mixer and pulse until a rough paste forms. The consistency will be a little like moist clay and will form damp clumps. The end paste should still have some texture, don't blend it until smooth, you want to be able to feel a nutty grit in your mouth.

Assemble:

Place a little sweet pesto at the bottom of your serving dishes and then top with the diced strawberries, spoon over the released juice - the juice will help loosen the sweet pesto and it's flavour will infuse the liquid.

Garnish with tiny basil leaves.

80DSC_9823.jpg

You could mix the sweet pesto through the strawberries but it won't look as nice - the strawberries lose their glossy appearance. I think it's a nicer experience to get that basil flavour building as you eat the dish.

Tagged

9 comments

  1. This is surprising dish (kind of like the first time I heard of sweet, fruit-based soups), but looks like a sweet and interesting treat.

    And for what its worth, I like the looks of the new blog template :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds refreshing and looks wonderful!! I have been enjoying your blog for a long time! Your photo's are always drool worthy!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your photos and your recipe. And this is wonderful

    Regards

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those photos just made me rethink tearing out my pathetic little strawberry patch. It's not much, but a few fresh berries every day may just be worth it...
    That is a beautiful bit of food!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Mike - very happy to see you like the new template!

    Thank you so much PIC that is very kind of you!

    Thank you Marta!

    Thanks Katie - nothing quite compares to the taste of your own strawberries, I hope they get a repreive!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sweet and simple, can't go wrong with that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. mgnifique!Tes images sont sublimes!!!

    ReplyDelete

© Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once | All rights reserved.
BLOG TEMPLATE HANDCRAFTED BY pipdig