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Basil has always been one of my favorite herbs.  I love what it does to desserts just as much as I love what it does to pasta sauce.  With berry season wrapping up, I couldn’t help but attempt a jam, spiked with basil.  Strawberries have enough natural pectin in them that you don’t need to add any, so this is a great recipe for jam making rookies.

This turned out just as wonderfully as I would have hoped.  If you’re planning on canning this jam, be sure to add an extra cup of sugar to ensure that there’s enough in there preserve it.  This is a small batch recipe, so I opted to eat it right away.  Goes great with an English muffin for breakfast, or in the center of a butter cookie.

Strawberry-Basil Jam
Skill Level: Intermediate
Yield: A lot (more than you can reasonably eat in 3 months – be prepared to give some away)

Ingredients
1/8 c chopped fresh basil
1/4 c lime jc
1/4 c water
1 1/4 c sugar
1 tbsp grated lime peel
2 lbs hulled strawberries

1. Lightly crush strawberries in a large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat lime juice, sugar, strawberries and water over low heat.
3. Continuously stir mixture until the sugar has dissolved.  Once the sugar has dissolved, increase heat to high until it begins to boil, stirring constantly.
4. Add grated lime peel and basil to boiling strawberry mixture.
5. Continue to heat until the mixture reaches 220 degrees (about 5 minutes over high heat).

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