Preserved Lemons

Ingredients

• 8 to 10 Lemons
• 1 kg salt - doesn't need to be anything fancy but ideally not iodised.
• Approximately 500mls olive oil, not extra virgin

optional but excellent:

• 1 tablespoon tumeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3 dried chilli peppers, crumbled

Method

Cut the fruit into eighths lengthways and cover the bottom of a baking dish with them. Cover the lemons in the salt and then put in the freezer overnight. (Sometimes I forget about them for a couple of days and they're always perfectly fine.)

Remove from the freezer and allow to thaw. Rinse under running water in a colander - make sure to spoon off some of the salt first to use for seasoning things another time. Shake the lemon slices to remove most of the water, and divide between clean jars (fills roughly 3 x 350ml jars)

Mix the oil and spices (if using) together in a measuring jug then pour into each jar until the slices are submerged. Add more oil if the slices aren't covered.

Close the jars, put away in a cool dark cupboard for a week or so – the longer the sit, the more ridiculously good they'll taste.

Modified from a Nigella Lawson recipe.