Salmoriglio (Sicilian lemon sauce)

Method

Like so many sauce recipes, you don’t really need one for salmoriglio. However, an idea of proportions might help.

Pound, crush or very finely chop a clove or two of garlic with a pinch of salt. Add the juice of a lemon (about 100ml), 200ml extra-virgin olive oil and a generous pinch of dried oregano. You can also add a pinch of red chilli or some chopped parsley, if you like.

You can make it in the blender – in fact, it creates a cloudy sauce with real texture – but you can just crush the garlic and salt in a mortar, scrape it into a jar with the oil, lemon and oregano, and shake madly. This also means that leftovers are ready to be stored in the fridge.