Roasted Strawberry & Basil Sauce

It is no secret that I love the combination of strawberries and basil, especially paired with cloudy lemonade; my favourite summer drink, I make it every summer, once strawberries are in season. For me, summer starts when the strawberries appear. There are so many other things that this sauce can be used for though, to top ice cream, to make other summer drinks (perhaps an alternative addition to pimms) or to make frozen yogurt (which is definitely on my ‘to make soon’ list). As such, I thought I’d share this here, courtesy of In Jennie’s Kitchen, who had the inspired thinking to roast the strawberries and basil. In the past I’ve just mushed the strawberries and basil in the bottom of a glass before pouring in ice cold cloudy lemonade, but this was a whole new level of yummy. I opted for using honey instead of sugar because I like to keep things natural and I really enjoy the sweetness that honey brings to food.

Ingredients:

• A punnet or two of strawberries, depending on how much sauce you need.
• A few handfuls of fresh basil, torn
• 1-2 tbsp of honey
• 1 tsp of lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C and line a deep sided baking tray with baking paper.
2. Remove the stems from the strawberries and slice them.
3. Place the strawberries into the tray with the basil and top with the honey and lemon juice.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring after about ten minutes.
5. Once out the oven, take care to save all the juice, as there will be quite a bit of juice in the tray. Leave the tray to cool for 5 minutes.
6. Carefully pour the contents of the tray into a jar and allow to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator, it should keep for a week or can be made in advance and frozen.