Watch CBS News

Recipes for lemons

CBS News correspondent Seth Doane's visit to Italy's Amalfi Coast (broadcast April 18) affords "Sunday Morning" viewers the opportunity to witness the harvesting of lemons, which have been grown in the region's mountainous terrain for a thousand years.

The Aceto family, who have been farming lemons there for seven generations, also welcome visitors for cooking classes featuring the fruit, at Amalfi Lemon Experience. They kindly shared several of their favorite lemon recipes. Molto delizioso!

lemon-pasta-620.jpg
Scialatielli Pasta. Courtesy Amalfi Lemon Experience

Homemade Scialatielli Pasta

by Ramona Avitabile

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
200 g of re-milled durum wheat (semola)
120 g of water (just enough)
1 pinch of salt
1 grated lemon
Chopped parsley

Sauce:
100 g of oil
Salt, just enough
Chopped parsley, just enough
Pulp of a lemon
1 clove of minced garlic

Preparation:

Mix semola with water, parsley salt and chopped yellow peel. Work until a consistent and not sticky dough is obtained. Leave the dough to rest by covering it with plastic wrap for half an hour. Spread with a dough machine or rolling pin to obtain a thickness of 1/8 inch. Make 5 x 5 inch squares from the sheets and cut as if they were noodles. Sauté the scialatielli in the semola flour and cook in boiling water for a few minutes (until pasta rises to the surface). Meanwhile, heat the pan in which the lemon sauce was prepared and sauté for a few minutes.

Sauce preparation:

Cut the garlic into small pieces (mince), chop a sprig of parsley, grate the yellow peel of a lemon and press the lemon. Add the oil and salt.

lemon-chicken-620.jpg
Lemon Chicken. Courtesy Amalfi Lemon Experience

Lemon Chicken

Serves: 8-9

Ingredients:

Put the pieces of chicken (preferably thigh and rear thigh) to marinate in a large bowl with the following ingredients:

Juice of 5 lemons
3 cloves of garlic cut in half
Sprig of rosemary
Glass of white wine
Pinch of oregano
Salt

Let them marinate for a few hours.

Then prepare a breading with the following ingredients:

300 g of breadcrumbs
Salt
100 g parmesan grated
3 lemons
Finely chopped parsley

Preparation:

After marinating, bread chicken pieces individually. Put extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan and gradually add the chicken pieces. You need to make the crust on both one side, then the other. Then, take a pan, make a layer of lemon leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin oil, place the chicken and cover with another layer of leaves. Bake at 180°C/350°F for about 45 minutes.

lemon-liqueur-620.jpg
Lemon Liqueur. Courtesy Amalfi Lemon Experience

Lemon Liqueur

Ingredients:
8 organic lemons
1.2 liters of water
700 g of sugar
1 liter of alcohol (95 proof)

Instruction:

Wash and dry the lemons. With a knife or peeler remove the yellow lemon skins, without the white part. Pour them into a container with the alcohol.

Close and leave to infuse for 7 days. After 7 days, prepare a syrup with 1.2 liters of water and 700 grams of sugar, put on the fire and let the sugar melt (three minutes from the first boil). Leave to cool. Remove the lemon peels from the alcohol and add the water syrup and sugar, mix, and pour the liqueur in bottles suitably filtered through a gauze. Close the bottles and let the liqueur rest for about 20 days. Place in the fridge and not in the freezer.

lemon-cake-620.jpg
Lemon Cake. Courtesy Amalfi Lemon Experience

Lemon Cake

Ingredients:
3 eggs
250 g of sugar
150 g of butter
250 g of flour
100 g of milk
16 g of baking powder
3 lemons

Preparation:

Work butter and sugar, and after, when it is well whipped, add 1 egg at a time.

Add the flour and baking powder slowly. Pour the milk and the yellow skins of the lemons, pour into a greased and floured pan (about 10 inches in diameter). Bake in a preheated oven at about 170°C (about 350°F) for 35-40 minutes

For the glaze:
Juice of 3 lemons
250 g of sugar

Heat until the liquid becomes honey-colored. Pour it still hot onto the surface of the cake.

     
See also: 

Growing lemons on the Amalfi Coast 04:46
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.