maybe it has been the ridiculously cold and late snowy and rainy weather we’ve been having in west michigan that has me craving something citrusy and tart and something anything that reminds me of summer. i have never been in to lemon but within the past few years i’ve really appreciated the “palate cleansing” properties that lemon provides. when we were in italy last summer we were served a small glass of limoncello at the end of a few meals. it was crisp, boozy and refreshing. and the cold rainy weather made me crave a taste of it.
i found this giada recipe on the food network website. but once i posted the pic of the first step i got an influx of new and family recipes to try. i am excited to see how each compare to each other. for my first batch i didn’t think this turned out too bad. in my opinion this version was a lot more sugary from the kinds we had this summer. still… it was delicious. this version was a little too syrupy to sip on it’s own but we made a few mixed drinks with it and it was delicious. this is about a week long process so make sure that you have time to let is sit before you want to serve it.
this recipe was adapted from giada’s on foodnetwork.com
what you are going to need:
1 750ml vodka (good quality)
3.5 cups water
2.5 cups sugar
10 lemons
remove the peels from the lemons and using a paring knife scrape out the white pulp. don’t cut yourself! (save the lemon juice for drinks later)
pack the peels into a jar (you want to have them packed in there pretty tight) and pour the entire bottle of vodka in the lemon peel jar. seal and store at room temperature for at least 4 days (i left it for 5 due to commitments)
once you have let it steep the vodka will be a bright yellow. transfer to a bigger jar (lemon peels and all) and heat the water over the stove. bring to a boil and add in the sugar. whisk until the sugar is dissolved. let the sugar mixture cool completely before adding in to the jar. this will take a few hours. once cool pour into jar, cover and store over night.
strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer and discard the peels. transfer to bottles and serve or use in other drinks. this patch filled one 1.5 liter and 4 small jars to give to friends. keep refrigerated this will keep up to 1 month.
we mixed up this delicious limoncello cocktail with our fresh batch and the left over lemon juice.
I remember watching the episode on Food Network were Giada made this and I’ve wanted to try it ever since. I may have to give it a go!