So I was chatting with some people, and it came out that I made a Watermelon Hot Sauce for Food Republic at some point in time. They wanted to try it, but I haven’t really seen watermelon around at the farmer’s market yet, so I just told them no. And then the begging began. And the whiiining. “Ok, ok. I’ll make some hot sauce. But I’m doing it with whatever fruit happens to be in abundance this weekend.”

Do you wanna know what there were mountains of? You already know, really, cause you read the title of this recipe…

Strawberries. Just so many strawberries. So I shrugged and bought a bunch, along with some garlic scapes, scallions, and cayenne peppers. And thus, an extremely delicious and unusual hot sauce was born.

Ingredients (makes about 36 oz)

Stage 1

• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 c chopped scallions
• 1/2 c chopped garlic scapes (or sub 3-4 cloves garlic)
• 8 cayenne peppers, chopped and stems removed, with seeds and ribbing intact
• 2 c broth (I used homemade smoked chicken broth, but regular chicken broth or vegetable broth are fine)

Stage 2

• 2 1/2 lbs of fresh strawberries
• 1/2 c Prosecco vinegar (white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar would also work)
• 1/2 c strawberry preserves

Directions

• Bring a pot to temp on medium heat, and add the Stage 1 ingredients.
• Cook loosely covered at a simmer until reduced by half.
• Add the Stage two ingredients, and let simmer for 10 minutes, covered.
• Blend until smooth.
• Strain and serve with anything that needs a spicy-sweet kick.