Absolutely as described, this dessert indeed is ‘sumptuous.’
Once you’ve hulled the strawberries, the dish comes together in minutes, the timing is described precisely.
The only tricky part for us was the direction to drain the caramel — we used a very heavy pan, and holding the hot pan with one hand while trying to pour the liquid off the strawberries was daunting. Instead, we just pushed the caramel as best we could to the edges of the pan and gave the strawberries another two minutes on the middle part of the pan.
This is a very pretty dish and should be served immediately. The flavors are divine, very rich, so we served small portions of the ricotta (Bellwether Farms — fabulous) with lots of the strawberries and a drizzle of the caramel. The next morning the strawberries had faded, but we heated up what was left and served on yogurt. Pretty great way to start a day.
The idea of this recipe was a bit of a stretch for my family even to consider — cooking fresh, top-quality strawberries is, frankly, a ‘clutch-my-pearls scandalous notion’ to us. Our grandmother only served the very best fresh strawberries, lightly macerated in powdered sugar, over whipped cream and biscuits, or piled high in the finest lard crust you ever could imagine.
Why would anyone ‘roast’ a strawberry? Well. We were un-informed. This recipe is why.
The strawberries are cooked just long enough to begin to be jam-y, but not too long to lose their bright flavor, and with the simple buttery caramel, altogether it’s a revelation. The syrup is even more divine on day two. We will make again, certainly, and next time we’ll serve over ice cream.