Lovely lemon

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We love lemons, whether they’re the hero of a dish or just squeezed over the top! This week, food writer Libby Kimber brings you two recipes where you can use your in-season citrus.  

Lemon tart

Image and text from Gloriously Gluten Free by Frederique Jules; Murdoch Books RRP $35.

Serves: 8

Cook: 20 mins (plus 12 hours resting time)

  • 500g shortcrust pastry

Filling

  • 200g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 50g cornflour
  • 200ml lemon juice
  • 200g butter, cut into cubes
  • Grated zest of 1 lime

Make the filling: heat the sugar, eggs, cornflour and lemon juice in a heatproof bowl sitting over a saucepan of gently simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water). Cook, stirring with a spatula, until thick and creamy.

Remove the bowl from the pan, add the butter and stir until melted. Set aside in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 180°C. Blind bake the tart shell for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool. Spread the lemon filling in the tart shell. Scatter the lime zest on top.

Crab linguine

The Dirty Dishes: 100 Fast and Delicious Recipes by Isaac Carew, published by Bluebird, RRP $39.99.

Serves: 4

  • Sea salt
  • Olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • ½ medium red chilli, sliced
  • 1 sprig of thyme, leaves only
  • 100ml white wine
  • 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 360g linguine
  • 100g white crab meat
  • 1 Tbsp mascarpone
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • A few chives, finely chopped, to serve

Whack a saucepan of salted water on to boil. In the meantime, heat a medium frying pan over a low to medium heat, add a little olive oil and sauté the shallot and garlic until sweet and tender.

Add the chilli to the pan, along with the thyme leaves and cook for a few minutes. Next add the white wine and cook over a medium heat for another minute or two until the sauce is reduced. Finally add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Chuck the linguine in the salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Retaining 1–1½ ladles of the pasta water, strain the pasta and set aside.

Add the crab meat and mascarpone to the sauce, then fold the sauce through the pasta, adding the reserved water. This will give extra gloss to the dish and a deeper taste. Finish with a little drizzle of olive oil, the lemon juice and a sprinkling of chives.

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