OK, I’ll admit that this one’s a bit of a “chef-y” sort of recipe.  But everyone has had Bruschetta in about a million ways and this one is a fun take on the idea. Plus, it’s really not hard to make.

This can be used in many ways.  For example, this morning I substituted this for salsa on my scrambled eggs, and it was pretty darned tasty.   I’ll bet you could use this as a pesto over some pasta as well – try it and let me know what you think (or not).

Depending on how you make it, this has a very strong taste of lemons and is both salty and acidic. To give you an idea, I served it with some bread that I grilled with olive oil and dried herbs, as well as a very dry Riesling. A young red wine also works. This is not a chardonnay and brie appetizer – you’ll want something that can match the flavor.

So now that I’m done being chef-y, here goes:

Ingredients:

• 3 Quarters of Preserved Lemon
• 2 Beefsteak Tomatoes (about 1 ½ pounds; A box of grape tomatoes is a good substitute)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoon of fresh rosemary (do NOT use dried rosemary; skip this if needed).
• A shake of red pepper flakes
• 3-4 tablespoon of olive oil
• Optional – 2-3 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts (have tried this) or almonds (have not tried this, but it makes sense). This makes it a “pesto” and thickens it up with some crunch.

Recipe:

Take the preserved lemons and rinse the salt away under the sink.  Separate the pulp from the peel and put it aside in case you want to use it later.

Now line a pan with the lemon peels, the tomatoes (cut into quarters), garlic and rosemary. A little olive oil won’t hurt.

Roast these at 375 for about 40 minutes.  About halfway through I pulled out the lemon and garlic to prevent them from burning. When you’re done, the tomatoes will have some color and will dry out a bit.

Put these in a food processor or blender with a bit of olive oil, a few red pepper flakes, and (if you are using it) nuts. Pulse it, but don’t blend it much. If you can’t taste the lemon, you can take some of the reserved pulp and add it in. Same with pepper and olive oil. You should not need salt.  Pulse it again until it’s a coarse puree.