While the English-style of marmalade results in a clear, often soft jam punctuated with finely sliced citrus peel, this is a Sicilian style recipe for lemon marmalade where the cooked, whole lemons are put through a passaverdura, a food mill, for an opaque purée that is then combined with the sugar and thickened over the stove. <br /> <br />For marmalade inspiration, I turned to Nigel Slater, who has plenty of excellent advice (even if for Seville oranges https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/25/seville-orange-marmalade-recipe), as well as some old Sicilian recipes, which are usually all a version of the one found in “Marmellate e Conserve” by Enza Candela Bettelli (in Italian, 1986). <br /> <br />It sounds like an awful lot of sugar, but this is the classic ratio for citrus marmalades (1 part fruit to 2 parts sugar) and we’re talking lemons here—much less sugar is just a bit too tart, but if you are using naturally sweeter lemons such as Meyer lemons (a cross between a lemon and a mandarin or orange) or Amalfi lemons, you could get away with less sugar. Taste it as you go and add more sugar, if you like. Although I love this jam just as it is, it would also go beautifully infused with elderflower, fresh ginger, fresh rosemary, or speckled with vanilla.

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