Limoncello

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This month is all about citrus. Here are some recipes to help you use and enjoy this delicious winter bounty.

Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur. If you’re a limoncello fan, you might have made it in the past by peeling too many lemons and dropping them into vodka. This recipe has a different and easier technique, suspending the lemons over the vodka and letting the vapours extract the essence from the peels. Give it a try!

Chicken Yassa, a tasty dish from Senegal, pairs tart lemons and sweet caramelised onions with just a hint of chilli. Warning, be sure to use a non-reactive pan to cook up this sauce as the lemon juice might pit your pot!

And to finish it off, an Orange Polenta Cake that’s gluten free and low fat yet totally moist and delicious.

We have added other wonderful citrus recipes here for your enjoyment that couldn’t fit in the print Triangle.

Bon appétit!

 

An air-tight, clip-top, wide-mouthed jar (see photo)
Cheesecloth
Twine
750ml vodka
2 lemons, rinsed (ideally organic Meyer lemons)
1.5 cups simple syrup (heat 250g sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cool before using)
Zest of two fresh lemons

  1. Pour the vodka into the glass jar.
  2. Wrap lemons in cheesecloth and suspend over the vodka using the twine to secure them.
  3. Seal tightly, and let sit undisturbed in a cool, dark place for one month.
  4. After one month, discard lemons, then add syrup and the fresh zest of two new lemons.
  5. Let sit for 15 minutes then strain through a fine mesh sieve (or more cheesecloth).
  6. Decant into bottles or jars and chill before serving.

This recipe gives the pure lemony essence that you get from the suspension technique, topped with a whiff of the delicious fragrant oils from last minute exposure to fresh lemon zest. Limoncellos that use the standard technique of soaking lemon peels for a month in the alcohol tend to have a heavier flavour and aroma and often some bitterness from the pith. The suspension technique produces a light and vibrant drink. This recipe has the best of both worlds.