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Preserved Lemons

15th January 2014 By Urvashi Roe Leave a Comment

These are super simple and quite simply sunshine in a jar.  They do take a couple of months to mature and build the flavour but I can highly recommend them for all sorts of uses – tagines such as this Sea Bream and Vegetable Tagine , Charmoulla for this Preserved Feta with Charmoulla to savour with cheese or simply whisked into a salad dressing.

Lemon / Preserved Lemons

Sunny lemons!

You’ll need

  • A jar of your chosen size
  • Lemons to fit your jar
  • 2 tbsp of table salt per lemon
  • 150-200ml lemon juice depending on the size of your jar

To make them

  1. Sterilise your jars in boiling water.  I simply put them in a hot dishwash and then dry them in a120C oven for about 15 minutes.
  2. Soften the lemons by rolling them on your work surface.
  3. Cut the lemon in half and half again with slits that goes almost all the way down.  You need to leave about 5mm at the bottom. 
  4. Stuff the opening with a tablespoon of salt and then close the lemon back up tightly. Repeat for each lemon.
  5. Push the lemons into your jar one by one adding a tablespoon of salt between each one.
  6. Pour in the lemon juice. It should reach about 2 cm from the rim of the jar.
  7. Seal the jar and then leave in a warm place for around a month.  Give the jar a turn every few days to evenly distribute the juice and salt.
Lemon / Preserved Lemons

Preserved lemons in progress

Lemon / Preserved Lemons

Squeezing lemons

Related

Filed Under: Preserves & Pickles Tagged With: cheese, chermoula, feta, Morocco, oil

Previous Post: « A Desert Banquet in Ouarzazate
Next Post: Feta With Charmoulla »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ren Behan says

    15th January 2014 at 6:45 pm

    Simple enough. I’ve never really thought about preserving lemons, though it’s very Diana Henry/Morroccan-esque so I’d probably use them up quickly enough! Thanks for sharing the knowledge 🙂

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      15th January 2014 at 7:19 pm

      Yes it is very Diana Henry isn’t it. Though I would also cite paula Wolfert and her Morocco book which I am currently wading though. Such a lovely book.

      Reply
  2. Mehrunnisa Yusuf says

    16th January 2014 at 11:48 am

    funny. it seemed totally paula wolfert to me because i read the recipe a while back on leite’s culinaria. my dadi used to make these in pakistan but with the small lemons (a little smaller than limes). their skins are much thinner and i love eating them with lentils and rice.

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      16th January 2014 at 11:59 am

      Oooh they sound great. Less time to mature also. I might try that with the small Indian lemons in Wembley

      Reply
  3. Katie Bryson (@cookingkt) says

    16th January 2014 at 4:59 pm

    Oooooh I love lemons so am totally loving all your lush lemon pictures on this post!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      18th January 2014 at 10:05 pm

      Thanks 🙂 something very cleansing about them eh?

      Reply
  4. Jeff T. Neck says

    17th January 2014 at 1:50 pm

    What is your favorite thing to use the preserved lemons with?

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      17th January 2014 at 7:47 pm

      Currently I’m obsessed with this charmoulla http://thebotanicalbaker.wordpress.com/recipes/fruit/lemon/feta-with-charmoulla/

      Reply
  5. laura_howtocook says

    17th January 2014 at 8:24 pm

    Oh yes, I would love a copy of Paula Wolfert’s book. I think I have another one of hers on Mediterranean food. I must make time for these, have spent too long not doing anything about it!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      18th January 2014 at 4:15 pm

      I love her writing. The Food of Morocco books reads like a travel journal. It inspired our whole holiday last summer

      Reply

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Hi I'm Urvashi!

I love food. This blog is a little glimpse into my foodie world which is an escape from two teenage girls, a busy job and my little cafe.

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