Roasted Strawberries

Roasted, strawberries? I've now made this twice, and all I can say is YES PLEASE!

Strawberries are tossed with maple syrup, olive oil, and a bit of salt. Roasting takes about 40 minutes. The cook is advised to roast them spread about in a single layer. At the end of roasting, you add a bit of port, and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

The first time I pepared this dish, my single layer fit in a 9X9 pan (snug, but a single layer). However my result was very different from Heidi's pictures. Hers look somewhat dry, whereas mine were floating in a thick layer of delicious thick juice. This was delicious in a grown up sort of way - amazing on greek yogurt or by the spoonful. It was just very different from the picture.

The second time I prepared this, I used a very large pan, where the strawberries could be separated by about an inch. This encouraged evaporation, and this time I obtained the drier berries and very thick juice. The addition of port and balsamic produces an other-worldly flavor.

Because this takes a while, you might consider doubling the recipe, as 8 oz of strawberries isn't very many. The second prep, I cut down the olive oil by about 1/2, and still loved it.