Easy Lemon Recipes For When Life Gives You … Lemons!

Lemonade isn’t compulsory!

Lemons are very versatile fruit, delicious in both sweet and savoury dishes and great for brightening and balancing flavours. Lots of easy lemon recipes here!

We always have plenty of lemons, mainly because, suffering bad colds years ago we decided to try warm honey and lemon drinks when we got up. We have got over the colds but not the honey and lemon habit, it is a delicious start to the day. But lemons are so flexible and useful and inspiring that I have to keep buying more.

I think it goes without saying but I’m going to say it anyway!  Do wash your lemons and dry with a piece of paper towel, particularly if using the zest – they might be waxed or just dirty.

So, here are some easy lemon recipes and delicious things to do with lemons.

Savoury Lemon Recipes and Ideas

Understandably a lot of these involve fish.

Lemon & Spice Marinated Shrimp

Marinade
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
salt to taste

Shrimp
500g fresh shrimp
lots of water
more salt

~   Whisk together the marinade ingredients – see here for more information on adding salt to taste.
~   Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil.
~   Add the shrimp and cook for about 1½ minutes till the shrimp are pink and curling.
~   Drain immediately.
~   When cool enough to handle and mix in with the marinade and allow to finish cooling completely
~   Decant into a container with a lid or even better a ziplock bag and chill for several hours.

You could, of course, use bought in cooked shrimp but they won’t take up the marinade so well.

Simple Lemon Sauce for Pasta

Serves 2 – 3

250g dried lingine, tagliatelle or similar
finely grated zest of ½ a lemon
juice of 1½ lemons (including the zested half above)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
75g grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

~   Cook the pasta in boiling salted water to al dente (just tender to the bite), drain, reserving two tablespoons of the cooking water.
~   While it is cooking whisk together rest of the ingredients.
~   Whisk in the reserved cooking water and then toss all together with the cooked pasta.

This is good just as it is but here are some delicious additions you might like to try …

~   cooked crab or shrimp or scallops
~   pieces of cooked chicken
~   fresh basil or parsley or dill
~   cooked peas, mangetout (Rodney) or sugar snap peas
~ Pangrattato which is a lovely, quick, cheap, easy way to improve so many meals

Lemon Infused Olive Oil

250ml extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon

~   Using a potato peeler carefully remove the yellow zest from the lemon.
~   In a small pan gently heat together the lemon zest strips and the olive oil. When I say “gently heat” I mean it, don’t let the oil get anywhere near a simmer.
~   After 10 minutes set aside to cool.
~   When cold remove the zest and transfer the oil to a clean jar with a  lid. 
~   Store in a cool dark place and it will be fine for a month or so.

This delicious oil is good drizzled over fish, seafood, chicken dishes, salad, pasta, etc. Use as a dipping oil for good bread and crudités or as the oil in appropriate salad dressings.

Lemon Butter

A lovely addition to all sorts of fishy dishes – recipe here plus lots of other delicious compound butters.

Classic Brown Butter and Lemon Sauce for Fish

This is simply melted brown butter with capers and lemon juice stirred in. I don’t like capers so they do not appear in this picture,  Recipe, how to make brown butter and other things to do with it here.

Baked Lemon Vinaigrette

This excellent lemon dressing is great on seafood salads and also chicken.

Smoked Fish à la Mode!

When I worked in the Caribbean, where there are are a lot of American tourists, I often put Smoked Fish à la Mode on the menu to make them feel at home!  For some reason “à la mode” means with ice cream in the States (although for the rest of us it means fashionable) and I did indeed serve the fish with Lemon, Parsley & Vodka Ice Cream! If I remember or find the recipe I’ll add it later!

Sweet Lemon Recipes and Ideas

Lemon Posset

Lemon Posset is a very simple old English recipe which makes a deliciously fresh, creamy, tangy dessert in minutes!

500ml double cream
110g caster sugar
finely grated zest and the juice of 3 lovely lemons

~   Mix together the cream and the sugar in a small pan and bring to just under the boil, stirring till the sugar has dissolved.
~   Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon zest and juice which will cause the cream to thicken.
~   Set aside to cool for 10 minutes and then divide between 6 pretty glasses and chill completely- they will be OK in the fridge for up to three days.

Serve with something crunchy such as shortbread and/or with fresh berries.

You can, so easily, turn this into …

Lemon Drizzle – just the drizzle!

What makes Lemon Drizzle Cake so lush and moist is the lemon syrup poured over the cake as soon as it comes out the oven. A similar treatment can be given to any freshly baked lemon friendly cake or other baked goods such as scones, muffins. It can also be drizzled on pancakes, waffles and ice cream.

Make the syrup by simply stirring together 60g caster sugar and the juice of one lemon. Don’t make this too far in advance so that not all the sugar dissolves giving a crunchy topping.

Depending on the size of cake it may be necessary to double up on syrup quantities.

No-bake Lemon Cheesecake

This easy cheesecake recipe is super adaptable – here’s the cheesecake recipe and how to make a lemon version.

Don’t throw away empty lemon shells!

There are lots things to do with a squeezed out lemon, see here for 24 great ways to use lemon zest, skin and peel.