Cured lemons are made with both salt and sugar, unlike preserved lemons which are made with just salt. If you are substituting preserved lemon, add a couple of pinches of sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
½ bunch flat leaved parsley, leaves picked
6 slices of cured lemons, rinsed – recipe below
¼ cup, 70g whole hazelnuts, toasted and skinned*
2-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch asparagus, washed and tough ends trimmed
Place the parsley leaves and cured lemon slices on a cutting board and chop to a rough texture. Place in a small bowl. Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add to the parsley/lemon mixture. Add enough olive oil to make a nice consistency.
Place the asparagus over boiling water in a steamer basket. Cook for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the asparagus. It should be still crisp.
Arrange the asparagus on a warm plate and drizzle the gremolata over the top. Serve hot or room temperature.
*to toast and skin hazelnuts – Preheat oven to 350ºF 180ºC. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in a tea towel and rub in the towel to remove the skins.
If you buy already skinned hazelnuts, toast them for 3-5 minutes to give a nice roasted flavor.
Cured Lemons
8 lemons, scrubbed
1¾ cups sugar
1 ½ cups kosher salt
Cut ½ inch from one end of a lemon, leaving you with the nicest widest portion, and slice the lemon into 1/8-inch rounds, removing the seeds as you go and stopping ½ inch from the other end. Repeat with the remaining lemons.
Combine the sugar and salt in a large bowl.
Sprinkle just under ½ inch of the sugar mixture in the bottom of a storage container that is about 6 inches square. Arrange a row of slightly overlapping lemon slices on top, and top with a layer of the sugar mixture that just covers the lemon slices completely. As you layer the lemons, the goal is to have enough of the sugar mixture evenly distributed on the slices so that when it dissolves, all of the lemon slices will be covered with the liquid. It is better to use too much sugar and salt than too little. Continue layering, ending with the sugar mixture.
Put a lid on the container and wrap the container tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 weeks. As it sits the sugar and salt turn into a brine. Rinse it off before using.