Sumac Roasted Strawberries with Yoghurt Cream

I’ve just bought a copy of Ottolenghi Simple and am loving so many of the recipes. This one is divine and really simple too.

Roasting the berries intensifies their flavour, and their juice thickens into a gorgeous sticky syrupy sauce, and it only takes 20 minutes in the oven.  The addition of sumac, a slightly citrusy middle eastern spice, along with lemon and vanilla and mint takes these berries to the next level.

You can simply serve the berries warm over ice cream, or even better, make the yoghurt cream, it’s worth the little extra effort.

Ingredients

For the Strawberries

• 600g ripe strawberries, hulled, cut in half lengthways
• 1  1/2 tbs sumac
• 70g icing sugar
• 1 lemon,  zest  and juice
• 80ml water
• 1/2 bunch mint, half left as sprigs, and half finely shredded
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways, seeds scraped  or 1 tsp vanilla paste

For the yoghurt cream

• 900g Greek-style yoghurt
• 70g icing sugar
• 120ml double cream
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

To roast the strawberries

1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan.
2. Toss the strawberries with the sumac, lemon zest and juice, the mint sprigs and vanilla pod or paste, icing sugar and water.
3. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and roast for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through, until soft and bubbling.
4. Allow to cool to room temperature, then lift out and discard the mint sprigs and vanilla pod.

For the Yoghurt Cream

5. Put the yoghurt into a bowl with the icing sugar and salt. Mix, then transfer to a sieve lined with muslin or a new piece of Chux and set over a bowl.
6. Tie the muslin into a bundle and with string or an elastic band and weigh down with another heavy bowl or jug, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, until you are left with about 550g of thickened yoghurt. Stir in the cream. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To serve

8. Use a little of the roasted strawberry juice to gently fold through the yoghurt cream mix for a rippled effect. spoon some cream into glasses and top with berries, juice and shredded mint.