Okay, so I really like strawberries and basil together. The flavor combo makes you feel like you’re eating something exotic, but familiar. Regular strawberry jam is a dime-a-dozen, so I thought I’d spice it up a bit by tossing in some fresh basil and slightly nutty black sesame seeds. With this recipe you get a gourmet jam that EVERYONE thinks you purchased from some fancy store. Little do they know that it’s just a few ingredients that you probably have on hand already. It’s really really good.
I came up with the flavor combo by thinking of what a strawberry looks like – the red are the strawberries, green is the basil, and the sesame seeds look like little strawberry seeds. Whenever I make this jam I use raw sugar, but any sugar will work perfectly. Enjoy!
1 lb strawberries
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup sugar
7-9 basil leaves
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
Wash and cut the green tops off the strawberries. Roughly chop and put into a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add in the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer…stirring frequently. Cook for around 20 minutes, mashing the strawberries as you stir.
Chop the basil and stir into the strawberries. Cook for 2-5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and then stir in the black sesame seeds.
Cool completely and then serve!
Enjoy!
