Preserved lemon spaghetti in a fur coat
Tomato and cream with a Moroccan secret in the pocket.
At a Glance
Story
Preserved lemons are whole lemons cured in salt until the rind goes soft, fragrant and entirely eatable, a backbone of the Moroccan pantry. Cooked into tomato paste they perfume the whole sauce, which is why a dish this short on ingredients tastes like it has been simmering all afternoon.
Ingredients
- fine sea salt and black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ yellow onionfinely chopped
- 2 cloves garlicminced
- 5 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ preserved lemonseeded and minced (about 2 tbsp, plus more to taste)
- 2 tsp honeyplus more to taste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 lb spaghetti or other long pasta
- Parmesanfinely grated, to finish (optional)
Method
From the Moroccan cook Nargisse Benkabbou, and a very good argument for keeping a jar of preserved lemons where you can reach it in the dark. Feeds four honestly, six if everyone behaves.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a teaspoon of salt.
- Meanwhile, warm the oil in a large pan over medium low. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of the minced preserved lemon, the honey, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant and the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream. Now taste, and adjust with more preserved lemon, honey and salt until it sings. Bring it to a gentle simmer, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
- Cook the spaghetti until almost al dente, 6 to 7 minutes. Reserve a cup of the cooking water before you drain. Do not skip this. That cloudy water is the glue.
- Return the sauce to medium low, add the spaghetti and half the reserved water and toss until the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, glossy and clinging, 3 to 4 minutes. Loosen with more pasta water as needed.
Serve warm under a flurry of Parmesan if you like. Nobody has ever complained.
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