To the northern eye, attuned as it’s to the muted and russet tones of our indigenous apples and pears, the lemon is a factor of virtually mocking brightness and jollity – so daring, blatant and exclamatory in its yellowness. Lemons are variously described as electrical, contemporary, optimistic, uplifting, zesty, spritzy, cheerful, sunny, energetic. They’re synonymous with freshness and optimism, and a contented lemon is full, pert and perky, and unapologetically, proudly yellow. Lengthy stay the lemon!
Spring fregola salad (pictured prime)
Fregola is a Sardinian pasta made by rolling grains of semolina collectively to type small balls, then roasting them in an oven. The completed pasta has a toasty, smoky flavour, a beautiful, nubbly texture and is simply small/giant sufficient to supply a nutty chew. It’s versatile and scrumptious, and could be cooked like rice or pasta. Right here, it’s boiled like pasta and left to chill earlier than turning into the premise of a considerable salad. The smokiness works nicely with the sweetness of younger uncooked courgettes, whereas toasted almonds prime every thing off. It is a nice facet dish for roast fish or chicken, or a pleasant summer time salad by itself.
Prep 10 min
Cook dinner 20 min
Serves 4 as a facet
250g fregola
Sea salt and black pepper
150g frozen peas
50-60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional to serve
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 small courgettes, sliced or peeled into strips
1 handful candy herbs (mint, parsley, dill), roughly chopped, plus additional to serve
150g contemporary ricotta
40g flaked almonds, toasted
Cook dinner the fregola in a big saucepan of boiling salted water for about eight to 10 minutes, till al dente, including the frozen peas to the pan a minute earlier than the fregola is completed. As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse shortly beneath chilly operating water. Drain once more and put in a bowl to chill, stirring sometimes to stop the fregola sticking collectively. When the fregola has cooled, season it nicely with salt, plentiful olive oil and lemon juice and zest, then style for seasoning and modify accordingly (the fregola will drink up the oil).
Toss the courgette ribbons via the cooled fregola and pea combination, then add slightly extra seasoning if essential. Toss via the herbs, then prepare on a platter and prime with giant blobs of ricotta. Sprinkle over some extra roughly chopped herbs and the almonds, drizzle with slightly additional oil to complete, then serve.
Creamy fennel, lemon and pecorino bake
At considered one of my favorite eating places of all time, the Seahorse in Dartmouth, Devon, a small silver dish of sliced fennel baked in cream is usually served alongside baked white fish. The fennel is pale, delicate, candy and savoury, and gives the proper accompaniment. It appears lovely, too, in all of its elven, pale green-white splendour. It is a gilded model of that very same dish, lifted by a double hit of lemon and given a savoury punch by garlic and anchovies; in case you want to maintain it vegetarian, omit the anchovies and it’ll nonetheless be scrumptious (you may additionally like so as to add just a few roasted almonds, for additional savouriness and crunch). This is usually a meal in itself (with a pointy, lemon-dressed inexperienced salad, say) or a facet for pork, hen or fish.
Prep 10 min
Cook dinner 1 hr
Serves 4-6
Butter, for greasing
2 giant or 3 small fennel bulbs (about 1kg)
Sea salt
300ml double cream
50ml milk
1 lemon, zested and quartered
1 garlic clove, peeled and bashed
80g grated pecorino (make sure that it’s a vegetarian one, if want be)
30g coarse breadcrumbs, ideally from a country loaf (dried breadcrumbs would additionally work)
Additional-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
6 anchovy fillets (non-obligatory)
Warmth the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/fuel 5, and grease a big gratin dish with butter.
Trim the roots and stems from the fennel bulbs, chop off and reserve the fronds, then slice the bulbs lengthways into 3mm- to 4mm-thick slices. Convey a pan of well-salted water to a boil, drop within the sliced fennel and prepare dinner for 3 minutes, till simply tender. Drain, dry and prepare within the gratin dish.
In the meantime, in a saucepan, warmth the cream and milk with half the lemon zest, a pinch of salt, the chopped reserved fennel fronds and the bashed garlic clove. In the case of a boil, take off the warmth and stir in half the pecorino, till melted.
Chop one of many lemon quarters into skinny slices, then chop these into little items and scatter everywhere in the fennel. Pour over the cream combination, and take away and discard the bashed garlic.
Combine the remaining lemon zest with the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese, sprinkle this over the fennel and cream, and drizzle with the olive oil. Dot over the anchovy fillets, if utilizing, then bake for about 40 minutes, till golden and effervescent.
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These recipes are edited extracts from For the Love of Lemons: Italian-inspired Candy and Savoury Recipes, by Letitia Clark, printed by Quadrille at £28. To order a duplicate for £25.20, go to guardianbookshop.com
