Are those lemons in your fruit and veggie boxes? Close, but not quite! This week, you’ll have found a stock of lemonade fruits, cousins of the more common lemons; not to be confused with the sugary drink! Also known as unlemons or New Zealand lemonades (guess where they came from originally), scientists think they’re a hybrid of mandarin oranges and regular lemons.
Well, how do you tell lemons and lemonades apart? While lemons are usually shaped like ellipses, lemonades tend to be rounder. The rind is smoother and softer than a lemon’s, enough that you can peel them with your fingers instead of needing a tool. And if you end up cutting them open, obvious difference in taste aside, you might notice that lemonades have less seeds than lemons embedded in the flesh.
Lemonades have the sweetness of lemons without the mouth-puckering sourness, which means they can be substituted for each other in a lot of recipes as long as seasoning is adjusted. For example, lemon pasta, or pasta al limone, can be replicated with lemonades instead! Try out this recipe from Feel Good Foodie if that sounds interesting to you:
Lemon Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley plus more for serving
- Juice and zest of one lemonade
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese optional
- Freshly cracked black pepper for serving
Instructions:
- Cook the spaghetti in a pot of salted water according to package instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking pasta liquid.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the cooking pasta liquid and parmesan cheese and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Transfer the cooked spaghetti to the skillet with the pasta sauce and toss until well coated. Serve with extra parsley and parmesan cheese, if desired.
Make sure to taste and adjust the recipe! Perhaps you could even add your own elements?