It's time to make the best homemade limoncello

During the month of January, and also in February, The lemon trees have produced a blossoming of lemons.And that's why the time has come to prepare countless recipes to make the most of the harvest, including limoncello.

The author of the book The money for the CatalansAntonella Speranza reveals the recipe she uses to make limoncello at home. Of course, she needs some essential ingredients, besides lemons, such as 96% alcohol. Remember that limoncello requires patience to prepare, because once the initial steps are taken, it needs to rest. But if you make it around this time of year, you'll have it ready for after-dinner drinks by St. John's Day. Makes 2 liters of limoncello

• 10 medium-sized lemons (we only need the peels)
• 1 liter of 96% food-grade alcohol (also known as spirits alcohol, but without any added flavor)
• 1 liter of mineral water
• 800 g of sugar

Elaboration

1. Start by peeling the lemons with a vegetable peeler that allows you to remove only the yellow part of the fruit and not the white part, which would add too much bitterness to the recipe.
2. Once you have the peels, place them with the liter of alcohol in a tightly sealed, airtight container. Let it macerate for between fifteen days and one month.
3. After this time, check that the lemon peel is no longer yellow but white due to the action of the alcohol.
4. Filter the liquid using a funnel and strainer, then pour it into a glass bottle to create the lemon liqueur. Make sure no peel gets through.
5. Prepare a simple syrup with mineral water and sugar. A suitable ratio to avoid an overly sweet drink is one liter of water to 800 grams of sugar. Place the water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. The water should not boil, and the sugar should be thoroughly mixed.
6. In a couple of minutes of heat in the saucepan, the syrup will be ready.
7. Pour into the bottle containing the strained alcohol.
8. From here on, you will only have to wait between one and two months to check the final result, although once the syrup is mixed with the alcohol limoncello It could be taken at the moment.
9. It's best to let it rest at room temperature and then filter it through cotton to remove any impurities. The goal is to collect the fine liqueur in a glass bottle, its final stage. It will be then that...limoncelloIt will be ready to store in the freezer: the best advice for taking it is that it should be very cold.

Enjoy!