Saturday Share Recipe: Limoncello

It's been a while since I shared a recipe.

Recently, Darling Hubby picked half the lemons from our Meyer Lemon tree.

What did we do with the 134 lemons? We gave a half dozen to every neighbor who wanted them.

I made lemon meringue pies, lemon pudding, and lemon chiffon cake.

After all that, we still have a pile of lemons as you can see on the photo below. We pick them green, leave them on the counter at room temperature, and they begin to turn yellow. Then we store them in the refrigerator.

We took this pile of lemons to the ranch to store in the refrigerator here. 

I'm scrambling for more recipes because the lemon tree at home still has more than 100 lemons on it that must be picked because of the cold front that came in Friday.

Limoncello

One of our friends in Houston said she makes limoncello when she finds lemons on sale.

What? Limoncello? I love that Italian lemon liqueur. Actually, I love anything lemon-flavored.

Never had limoncello before? You've missed out especially if you like the taste of citrus. Limoncello is a sweet liqueur with an intense flavor of lemons. It lacks the tartness of lemon juice, tasting like a spiked concoction of melted lemon drops. Delicious.

Limoncello is made mostly in Southern Italy, in the areas around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula, the Amalfi coast, and the islands of Procida, Ischia, and Capri.

I never thought it could be made at home, but it sounds really easy. My friend gave me her recipe which I now share with you.

Limoncello for Friends

Ingredients

• 10 lemons
• 1 750-ml bottle of the highest proof vodka you can afford OR an equal amount of Everclear (the facts about Everclear)
• 3 1/2 cups of a good tasting water (I used Ozarka spring water.)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• a lemon zester device, not really needed but it sure makes it easier to get the zest off without the white pith

Directions

1. With the lemon zester, zest all of the lemons.

If you don't have a zester, which is a special grater, use a vegetable peeler to strip the zest. Make sure you get just the colored part, not any of the white pith. Save the lemons. You can later squeeze them to get all of the juice. Place the juice in a freezer storage bag for using in future recipes.

2. Place the lemon zest in a 2-quart container and pour in the entire bottle of vodka or Everclear over it.

3. Cover the container with a lid or with plastic wrap.

4. Let the alcohol and lemon zest macerate at room temperature for 4-5 days.

5. In a large saucepan, place the water and the sugar. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. This takes about 5 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool completely.

7. Pour this cooled sugar syrup over the alcohol-lemon zest mixture.

8. Replace the cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.

9. The next day, strain the limoncello mixture to remove the zest. Throw that away.

10. Wash and sterilize the bottles you plan to use. Note: If you use wine bottles, you need to be able to cork them or use bottles with screw-on tops. You can also use canning jars with lids and rings as a last resort.

11. Pour the limoncello into the bottles or jars. Seal the containers.

12. Refrigerate until thoroughly cold, at least 4 hours before serving. You can refrigerate this liqueur from 1 month to a year. You can even put it in the freezer for longer storage. Alcohol is a great preservative so it will keep.

How to Serve Limoncello

The traditional way is to serve it well chilled, neat, meaning no ice, in a chilled cordial glass. Or, on a hot summer night, serve as a cooler in a tall glass over ice.

You can also use it to make cocktails and martinis.

limoncello in desserts and in cocktails like a Lemon Drop Martini. That will probably become your new favorite cocktail.

If you plan to make a big amount and store it for up to a year, you should know that it will begin to lose the lemony taste over time, but it's still drinkable as a very strong sweet liquor.

Takeaway Truth

We plan on making our first batch of limoncello next week. I'll take photos and tell you all about it. Wish me luck!