Summer is here, and if you're growing tomatoes, zucchini, or anything else in the garden right now, I have a three-step trick that will change how you finish every single dish.
Flaky salt is already a gamechanger, but when you add lemon zest, it becomes something else entirely. It takes 30 seconds to make and lasts for weeks. And once you have a jar of it on your counter, I promise you will reach for it constantly.
I grew up in Winnipeg, where lemons don't grow and winter lasts six months. Then I married into a passionate Italian-Canadian family who cooked as though everything mattered, and in their kitchen, lemons were always present. Always purposeful. Never an afterthought. That Italian instinct for the lemon changed the way I cook forever. This recipe is one of the simplest expressions of it.
Lemon Zest Flaky Salt
Place 1/4 cup of flaky sea salt in a small bowl. The flakes should be big. This is not the moment for fine table salt. I use Maldon.
Zest one medium lemon directly into the bowl. Mix well, so the salt and zest get to know each other properly.
Spread the mixture out on a plate and let it dry for five to ten minutes.
That's it. You're done.
How I actually use it
The obvious place to start is fresh garden tomatoes. Sprinkle this over a thick slice of a summer tomato and you will never eat a tomato plain again. The lemon cuts through the sweetness, the salt draws out the juice, and the whole thing tastes like it came from a restaurant kitchen.
But this is where I want you to think bigger, because in my kitchen this jar gets used on almost everything:
Grilled salmon. Scatter it over the fish the moment it comes off the heat. The residual warmth releases the lemon oil and the whole kitchen smells incredible.
Scrambled eggs. A pinch on top just before you eat them. It sounds too simple to matter. It is not too simple to matter.
Avocado toast. This has become a non-negotiable in my house. Avocado, good bread, lemon zest salt, done.
Corn on the cob. Rub a little butter into the corn while it's hot, then dust with the lemon salt. People will ask you what you did to it.
Baked potatoes. The baked potato trick is one of my favorites: rub a potato in olive oil, coat the outside with the lemon salt, bake for 55 minutes. The skin comes out crispy, golden, and fragrant. Everyone at the table fights over the part they'd normally leave behind.
Margarita glass. And my personal favorite, which I will not apologize for: on the rim of a margarita glass. The Italian family who taught me to love lemons would probably have something to say about that. But it works beautifully.
Want to mix it up?
Add 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs alongside the zest. Rosemary and thyme work beautifully, as does crushed fennel seed if you're feeling adventurous. Keep the herb quantity roughly half the amount of salt so the flavors stay subtle and combined, rather than one thing shouting over another.
I keep a jar of the plain version and a jar of the rosemary version on my counter at all times. Once you start, you will understand why.
Simple things, done well. That is the whole La Limone philosophy.
Stay well zested,
Joanna
First published in Joanna's monthly column for Sixty and Me.