For someone who really doesn’t like fruit salad, Maria Elena has a strange love for this particular simple dessert. It is the perfect easy dish to serve on a spring day with brunch or to take to a BBQ.
Ingredients:
- Strawberries (one pint or two, depending on how many people you have)
- Sugar (1 tbsp per pint of strawberry)
- Juice of one lemon (per pint) or you can use red wine vinegar (1 tbsp) or balsamic vinegar (1-1.5 tbsp)
Wash the strawberries. You can count on 5 – 10 strawberries per person. Cut them into two or three pieces, place them in a bowl and sprinkle the sugar over them. The amount of sugar will depend on the sweetness of the berries and on the amount necessary to satisfy your “sweet tooth.” On average, one pint of strawberries could use 1 or 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar. Add the juice of at least one lemon and stir lightly but thoroughly. In Italy they often use red wine instead of lemon juice, or even balsamic vinegar!
Refrigerate the strawberries for at least a couple of hours. Taste them before serving to make sure the mixture is not too sour. If it is, add a bit more sugar and ENJOY.
P.S. Italians usually don’t put ice cream on top of the strawberries, but tastes and traditions do change, so help yourself to a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream or use the strawberries to top a pound cake if you so desire!