There are nearly as many ways to make limoncello as there are kinds of lemons — and the range of suggested times for soaking the peels and allowing the liqueur to "rest" only adds to the list of variations.

If you don't have the time or inclination to make your own, look for Ventura Limoncello Originale and the Italian import Caravella at area liquor stores.

In Italy, notes food and travel writer Faith Heller Willinger, limoncello typically is made with 190-proof alcohol. In this recipe from her 2007 book "Adventures of an Italian Food Lover: With Recipes from 254 of My Very Best Friends" (Clarkson Potter), Willinger suggests using grappa or vodka.

Limoncello

5 organic lemons, or lemons with untreated rinds

2 cups grappa or vodka

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups water

Peel the lemons, removing only the zest (and none of the white pith) with a vegetable peeler. Place the zests in a large glass jar with the alcohol. Cover the jar so that it is airtight. Allow the contents to soak for 10 days in a cool, dark place.

After 10 days, filter the alcohol through a fine sieve or piece of cheesecloth. Set the alcohol aside. Discard the lemon zest.

In a saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the water to make a syrup. Add the syrup to the filtered alcohol and combine. Pour the liqueur into bottles and stop with corks or a similar mode of closure. Allow the limoncello to "ripen" for two months in a cool, dark place.

Serve cold. Store in the freezer.

If every Italian family has its own recipe for limoncello, so, too, do many of the chefs who have shows on the Food Network. Here's Mario Batali's take on the after-dinner drink, from an episode of "Molto Mario."

Lemon Digestive Assistant: Limoncello

4 cups vodka

Zest of 10 lemons, no pith at all (may substitute 15 limes, 6 grapefruits, 10 blood oranges, 12 mandarins or 8 regular oranges

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 1/2 cups water

Place vodka and zest in a sealable jar (such as a large Mason jar) and allow to sit in a cool place for four days.

On the fifth day, place the sugar and the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to cook five minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the sugar solution to the vodka mixture and allow to stand overnight.

Strain through a layer of cheesecloth in a conical sieve, pressing the solids (zests) firmly. Discard the zests.

Strain the vodka mixture again through a second layer of cheesecloth, in the same manner. Chill and allow to stand one week.

Serve very cold.

Limoncello sometimes is used in mixed drinks like this cocktail, created by New York mixologist Aviram Turgeman in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Belmont Park racetrack.

The Belmont Gran Centennial

3/4 ounce GranGala (an orange liqueur from Italy)

3/4 ounce limoncello

1 1/2 ounces Bacardi Limón rum

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Ice, for mixing and for the glass

1 1/5 ounces brut Champagne

Lemon verbena sprig, for garnish

Pour the first four ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and shake for six seconds. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Top off with Champagne, garnish with the lemon verbena and serve with two long sipping straws.

Limoncello isn't just for sipping. In this recipe from Mario Batali, courtesy of the Food Network, the tangy-sweet lemon liqueur adds new zing to a familiar appetizer.

Shrimp Bruschetta with Limoncello

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

12 large shrimp (21 to 25 count size), cleaned, with tails left on

1 lemon, zest finely grated and juiced

1/2 cup limoncello

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 baguette, sliced into 16 slices, or 8 slices country bread, each about 3/4-inch thick

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped to yield 1/4 cup

Preheat the broiler or grill.

In a 12- to 14-inch saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until just smoking. Add the garlic and cook until it turns light brown.

Add the shrimp and cook without turning for two or three minutes, until bright red. Turn the shrimp over and cook for one minute. Add the lemon juice and limoncello, and cook until reduced by about one-third, about two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

Grill or toast the bread and place on a platter. Spoon one shrimp with sauce onto each toast, sprinkle with lemon zest and parsley, and serve immediately.

Giada De Laurentiis featured this recipe in the "Summers in Capri" episode of her Food Network show, "Everyday Italian." It calls for baking the cheesecake in a bain-marie, or water bath.

Limoncello Cheesecake Squares

Nonstick cooking spray

8 ounces purchased biscotti

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons grated lemon zest

1 12-ounce container fresh whole-milk ricotta, drained, at room temperature

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup limoncello

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Finely grind the biscotti in a food processor. Add the melted butter and one tablespoon of lemon zest, and process until the crumbs are moistened.

Press the crumb mixture over the bottom (not the sides) of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a cooling rack.

Blend the ricotta in a clean food processor until smooth. Add the cream cheese and sugar and blend well, stopping the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides of the work bowl.

Blend in the limoncello, vanilla and remaining two tablespoons of lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time, and pulse just until blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the completely cooled pan. Place the baking pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the baking pan. Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about one hour (the cake will become firm when it is cold).

Transfer the cake pan to a rack; cool for one hour. Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least eight hours and up to two days. Cut the cake into squares and serve.