Tasty Tuesday - Fresh Strawberry Sauce

Quick and SUPER simple recipe for you today! I love pancakes, but sometimes want a break from the norm. Although, normal pancakes for me involve bacon, chocolate chips, peanut butter, whipped cream, and maple syrup... but that's a recipe for another day.

A lighter option is to whip up a strawberry topping - and it is seriously amazing. The tartness cuts through the heaviness of the pancakes, and topping the whole thing with a generous (always generous) helping of whipped cream is the best way to start your weekend. This would also be really good on an ice cream sundae - yum!

So, basically, all we're doing is speeding up the process of mascerating the strawberries and bringing out their flavor.

First, rough chop some strawberries. You could dice them if you wanted to, but I like to just give them a rough chop and keep a bit more texture. Second, throw in some sugar and lemon zest. The amount of sugar depends on how sweet you want it (obviously), but it will become looser and more like a syrup the more sugar you add. I like it a little more tart, especially if I am adding the whipped cream, but Layne likes it to be more syrupy and sugary sweet, so I add a bit more for him. Next, toss the strawberries in the sugar and put them on the stove over low heat. You can just let it sit and give it a quick stir every few minutes while you whip up your pancakes. Finally, I give it a quick turn with the hand blender. If you added more sugar earlier, you probably don't need to do this, but if you want it completely like a syrup, then I'd still recommend it.

1 lb strawberries, 1/2 cup - 1 cup sugar (preference), 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest