Bitter Slow Roasted Lemons

Our answer

Nigella's Slow Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken (from Nigella Summer and on the Nigella website) involves roasting a jointed chicken on a bed of sliced lemons and whole garlic cloves. Usually the lemon slices caramelise slightly in the heat of the oven and become mellow and sweet. However lemon pith can be bitter and we wonder if the lemons used had a very thick skin with lots of pith.

If the pith is very thick then it can be difficult to eliminate the bitterness. Hence the recipe mentions using thin skinned lemons if at all possible. You can usually tell from looking and feeling the lemons as to whether they are thick or thin skinned - thick skinned ones have a more pimpled surface and thin skinned ones tend to feel more smooth and waxy. If your lemons turn out to have thick skins then it may be better to finely grate the zest of the lemons then carefully remove most of the pith with a vegetable peeler or small serrated knife (leave a little pith on so that the slices hold together when cooked). Put the peeled lemon slices in the pan with the garlic and thyme then mix the grated zest with the olive oil and use this to coat the ingredients.