Creamy Tomato Spaghetti With Preserved Lemon
Published June 3, 2025
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- 3tablespoons olive oil
- ½medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2garlic cloves, minced or crushed in a garlic press
- 5tablespoons tomato paste
- ½preserved lemon, seeded and minced (about 2 tablespoons), plus more to taste
- 2teaspoons honey, plus more to taste
- 1cup heavy cream
- 1pound spaghetti (or other long pasta)
- Finely grated Parmesan (optional), for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
500 calories; 22 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 355 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place a large pot of water over high heat, add 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan or pot over medium-low. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of the minced preserved lemon, the honey, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and the onion starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Mix in the cream, taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with more preserved lemon, honey and salt as necessary. Bring to a gentle simmer, then turn off the heat and cover with a lid to keep the sauce warm.
- Step 4
Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until almost al dente according to the package instructions, 6 to 7 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain pasta.
- Step 5
Over medium-low heat, add the spaghetti to the sauce along with ½ cup of the reserved cooking water, and toss to coat. Continue to toss until the spaghetti is al dente, adding more cooking water as needed to achieve a glossy sauce that clings to the pasta, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Step 6
Serve warm, topped with Parmesan if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
For some reason, people seem to want to change a recipe as written. This is perfect just the way it is -- really delicious !
Really fantastic! Made almost as written but doubled the amount of garlic and salted the pasta water way more than what was called for. I ended up using all of the minced lemon and found myself wishing that I had added even more
Delicious and easy! I used a whole 6oz can of tomato paste instead of just 5T and it turned out fabulous. I found it needed a touch more honey.
This is exceptionally good. Admittedly, I love preserved lemon--I went heavy with my portioning--but I think the actual trick is that the recipe uses tomato paste and cream with no canned tomatoes. The result is incredibly concentrated and creamy.
I really enjoyed this recipe, however, as it is with many New York Times recipes, the picture doesn’t quite match what my experience was. Just eyeballing the ingredients in the sauce made me realize that there was no way it was going to be enough for a pound of pasta. So I made the sauce for a pound of pasta, but I cut the pasta back to 12 ounces. Once I added the sauce to the cooked pasta, it was easy to see that it still wasn’t going to be enough, so I added 3/4 of a cup of pasta water. Even with that we had to eat it somewhat quickly in order to enjoy the creaminess.
Really incredible recipe! Not many ingredients but huge flavor. Made as written with exception of linguini vs spaghetti and added half lemon of juice at the end. Our jar of preserved lemons was very strong so didn’t increase as some commenters mentioned. Next time may grate a touch of lemon zest over the plated pasta. We garnished with small drizzle of nice evoo, pepper, and Parmesan. Thanks NYT! Will be making this again and for guests.