After tasting some of Maria Compagno’s luscious homemade limoncello late last year, I decided to try my hand at making it myself. As usual, this simple idea turned into one that eventually started to have a life of its own! First, I needed some nice lemons, preferably homegrown. Hmmm… whom should I call? Will McCaleb of course, if you are ever in need of anything within Louisiana or Mississippi he is your man. Within 24 hours, he had 78 gorgeous Plaquemines parish Meyer lemons delivered right to my door.
The original recipe only calls for 6 to 8 lemons and I did want to make a FEW extra bottles for friends and family, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have anything short of a small distillery going on in my kitchen for the next several weeks!
The recipe is “easy”. Carefully peel the lemons not cutting into to pith (the tart white part) and soak the peels in grain alcohol for a week. “Easy”, if you use a new peeler, go slowly, and try not to do over 50 lemons at a time! Easier still, if you do not leave town for an additional week, let the lemon peels soak longer in the alcohol than recommended. By the time I actually got around to adding the simple syrup and the extra alcohol to “cut” the overwhelming lemon flavor I had 27 bottles of limoncello!
I was giving it away, bringing bottles to birthday parties and even leaving bottles as thank you gifts, yet I still had more in my freezer! I started to think about creating a recipe using limoncello, but I was not even sure where to begin. Then it came to me, limoncello glazed shrimp. With a lot of trial and error and input from my “test kitchen” friends and family, a new recipe was born. I hope you enjoy not only making and drinking the limoncello, but also trying this flavorful sweet and spicy glaze on either shrimp or chicken.
Limoncello and Red Pepper Shrimp
12 (16 to 21 count) peeled shrimp with tails on or 1 lb. 40 to 50 count peeled shrimp *
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small garlic cloves minced
1 lemon zested and juiced
¾ cup limoncello **
¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on how hot you like it!)
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat , add garlic heat until fragrant. Next, add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes, turn once and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Remove the shrimp and set aside. Deglaze the pan with the lemon juice and lemon zest, add the limoncello and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened into a glaze like consistency. Return the shrimp to the pan then salt and pepper to taste. Heat for another 1-2 minutes and serve either as an appetizer or over Louisiana popcorn rice.
*you can also substitute chicken for the shrimp. Just use 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut in half to create 4 thin breasts.
** If you do not dare to make your own limoncello, it can be purchased anywhere liquor is sold.
Limoncello
1 liter Everclear grain alcohol
6-8 large lemons, preferably homegrown
1 ½ lbs sugar
1 ½ liters (6 1/3 cups) water
Peel lemons, very thin, with a potato peeler, do not cut into the white pith part. When all the lemons are peeled put in a glass gallon jar, add Everclear and cap the jar. Every day for a week, stir gently to mix.
After seven days, in a pot bring water and sugar to a light boil for about 40 minutes. Remove from fire, and let cool completely. This is called simple syrup. In the same pot, add the Everclear and lemon peel, mix well. Let it sit for a few minutes; strain and put in bottles. Store in the freezer. Serve as an after dinner cordial.
Makes 2 ½ bottles
Reprinted from Maria Compagno’s cookbook, Sicilian-Style Cooking - From Ustica to New Orleans
Two of the funniest remarks made about my first attempt at limoncello were “Elizabeth, I think you have the cure for the swine flu in your freezer, a few shots of this and nothing will survive in your system!” and “This stuff is like having crack in your freezer, you know it is there and you want a sip, but then you look at the clock and see it is only 10 am!”.