Aldi special deals usually present some great opportunities (or at least, provide good value vegan essentials like onions and so on), and last week was no exception- a punnet of plums for 59p? Yeah, go on then.
I ate a couple of them just as they were, but remembered earlier that most of them were still in my fridge. Although still edible, they were looking a little worse for wear, so I decided to extend their usable life by stewing them down into a tasty compote! I picked up a punnet of end of season Scottish strawberries at a little local greengrocers this morning and this is what happened this evening:
Plum and Strawberry Compote.
- 400g Plums, halved and stones left in
- 400g ripe Strawberries, topped and left whole
- 2 tblspns Caster Sugar
- 1 tblspn water
- 1 Star Anise, whole
- a dash of Vanilla Extract
Put all of the ingredients together in a stainless steel pan, cover and over medium heat bring up to a simmer, about 15 minutes or so.
Remove the lid and stir it to make sure everything is well incorporated and not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to keep the fruit just simmering and let it bubble away for at least 30-40 minutes, checking it from time to time to ensure it’s not sticking or burning; you want it to cook down to a consistency thinner than jam but not too liquidy.
Take it off the heat and let it cool down, then remove the plum stones and star anise and spoon it into sterilised airtight jars.
Allow it to cool down fully before putting the lids on the jars and it will keep in your fridge for a good 2-3 weeks. If you manage to not eat it all before that long!
It goes amazingly well with vanilla flavour Swedish Glace ice cream, or vanilla alpro soya desserts. That’s what I’m having now anyway!
Enjoy.
Animal Free Food! 