Moroccan Preserved Meyer Lemons

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When I talked about my Meyer lemon tree early last week, I mentioned that soon I’d be able to preserve those little lemons, and on Tuesday evening, I finally got a chance to get started!

I followed this recipe from David Lebovitz pretty closely. All you need are however many lemons you’ve got handy, coarse salt, a dried chili pepper, a bay leaf or two, a cinnamon stick, and a mason jar that will hold your lemons. Here’s how it went:

1. Boil your jar for 10-15 minutes to sterilize it.

2. In the meantime, grab your lemons, cut off the knobby end, slice an X into them, and cram lots of coarse salt into the opening, like this:

3. Put the lemon into your mason jar, and repeat steps 1-3 until you’ve salted all of your lemons.

4. Add the bay leaf, pepper, and cinnamon stick to your jar.

5. With a large spoon, press the lemons down into the jar, so they start releasing their juice.

That’s where I’m at right now. You’re supposed to keep the jar out, pressing the lemons daily for 2-3 days, so Friday was my last pressing. After all of the pressing, you just set them in a cool spot for a month while they soften, and then they’re ready to use! You can use the juice from the lemon’s pulp or slice up the peels to flavor savory dishes like soups, stews, and sauces. I can’t wait!!

Do any of you guys have recipes that call for my awesome preserved lemons? I am so excited to start cooking with them! In a month!

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