I buy a jar of preserved lemons to make chicken and chorizo stew, but I only ever use a couple of them. Any suggestions for what to do with the rest of the jar?
Joseph, Glasgow
“There are so many things,” says chef and writer Sami Tamimi, who is currently running a series of online Palestinian cookery classes. “I could write a book about this very question.” But, until that day comes, know that the fragrant, slightly tart fruit will brighten and add depth to all sorts, from dressings and dips to salads, stews and Sunday roasts.
The first lesson in these lemons, however, is one of storage. “You don’t have to keep them in the fridge,” Tamimi says. “The salt content means they’ll last happily in the cupboard for a few months.” But when life gives you too many lemons, he says, it’s time to turn to the freezer: “Remove the pips, blitz the preserved lemon(s), then decant into an ice-cube tray and freeze.” Those cubes could then be destined for future salad dressings (“just add olive oil, whatever herbs you like, and season”), mixed with olive oil and seasoning to pour over a roast leg or shoulder of lamb, or even chill out in a jug of homemade lemonade: “Blitz the frozen lemon with mint, [fresh] lemon juice and sugar, then add soda water,” Tamimi says. “It’s so delicious in summer.”
While preserved lemons are commonly associated with North African cooking, their talents extend far beyond the likes of tagines. Proving their versatility, chef Nargisse Benkabbou, author of Casablanca: My Moroccan Food, chops them very thinly, “until they’re paste-like” and adds to curries, seafood and fish traybakes, and even guacamole, to add “a fragrant kick”. They’re also very good in pasta sauces, Benkabbou says, with her go-to being alfredo – one of Italy’s creamiest, which is made by mixing melted butter, sometimes double cream, grated parmesan and black pepper.
Other ways for Joseph to work through that jar, Tamimi says, is to incorporate chopped lemon in dumplings before nestling them in a stew, while their “almost exotic dimension” makes them ideal for salsas (alongside herbs and chilli) to accompany fish or chicken. Then, for the luckiest dips, Ravinder Bhogal, in a previous Guardian recipe, blends cooked (frozen or, when the time comes, fresh) peas with garlic, mint and preserved lemon rind. With the motor running, she then trickles in extra-virgin olive oil, seasons and tops with quick-pickled radishes and some crumbled feta. “A butterbean dip with a little preserved lemon and cooked garlic would also be really nice,” Tamimi adds. “Or, make a dairy dip, such as cucumber, yoghurt, a bit of preserved lemon and some dill. And on and on you go …”
A more radical approach, though, would be to lean towards the sweet side. In Dessert Person, Claire Saffitz harnesses the savoury nature of preserved lemons by blending the rinds with Greek yoghurt, vanilla, and fresh lemon juice and zest, before adding that to her batter for a lemon meringue cake. Tamimi, meanwhile, is “dying” to try preserved lemon in an ice-cream or sorbet: “Now, that would be lovely.” You got the scoop here first.
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