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Smoky Confit Tomato and Lemon Pasta
Updated Aug. 1, 2024
![Smoky Confit Tomato and Lemon Pasta](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/16/multimedia/21EATrex-tomato-pastarex-fkzg/21EATrex-tomato-pastarex-fkzg-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2½ pounds mixed heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1½-inch pieces (or left whole, if bite-size)
- 1¼cups olive oil
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- 2lemons, zest peeled into strips, avoiding the white pith (save the juice for another use)
- 2cinnamon sticks
- 2small dried ancho chiles
- 1head garlic, top ½ inch of the bulbs removed
- 10fresh oregano sprigs, plus 1 sprig extra to serve
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1pound rigatoni pasta (or another similar shape)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Step 2
In a large (about 11-by-15-inch) roasting pan, add all the ingredients except for the pasta, and season with 1½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Spread into an even layer, with the head of garlic facing cut-side down. Nestle the ancho chiles under the tomatoes, tearing in half if necessary to immerse them, then roast the mixture for 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and lightly charred. Use tongs to squeeze the garlic cloves into the pan, discarding the papery skins. Remove and finely chop the ancho chiles, then return to the pan, discarding the stems.
- Step 3
While the tomato confit roasts, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta a few minutes before the tomatoes have finished cooking, and cook as per packet instructions. Reserve ⅓ cup of the pasta water, then strain the pasta. Add the pasta to the roasting pan and gently stir to combine until the pasta has absorbed any cooking liquid from the pan. Add some pasta water, a few tablespoons at a time, until the sauce clings nicely to the pasta.
- Step 4
Discard the cinnamon sticks and serve straight from the pan, with the extra oregano sprinkled on top.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
This looks fantastic, but I am a little confused: Should I add the whole lemon into the pan? Or just the strips?
In the recipe he says “Today’s recipe sticks to only that zest, because tomatoes normally have enough acidity in them to give my pasta a nice sharpness. But extra juice would definitely not hurt, particularly if your tomatoes are extra sweet.” So it sounds like just the zest.
Lemon or Zest: The following quote is from the NYT article that accompanied this recipe (July 18, 2024): “Today’s recipe sticks to only that zest, because tomatoes normally have enough acidity in them to give my pasta a nice sharpness. But extra juice would definitely not hurt, particularly if your tomatoes are extra sweet.” So, zest only. But the comments are right - the instructions in the recipe are unclear and the editor should revise the text regarding the lemon ingredient.
I made this last night, and the dish was very flavorful. However, it was also VERY oily. If I made it again, I would use perhaps half the amount of olive oil indicated.
I made this last night and it was excellent! So flavorful. Rather than turn on the oven on a hot day, I sauteed everything in the stove top. Once the pasta was done I mixed it in with the sauce until all the liquid was absorbed. Simple to make and amazing flavor! I'll definetely keep this in the rotation.
Cinnamon sticks and lemon… Ottolenghi’s Palestine-by-way-of-London touch is subtly distinct and tasty here, as usual.
Sean, Assuming no other dried chile is available, you’re trying to replicate the fruity/chocolaty mildly spicy flavor of the ancho chile. So maybe a roasted & peeled sweet red pepper, a bit of smoked paprika and a dash of powdered cayenne for spiciness.
I made this last night and will make it again. The main flavor was the lemon. Very nice. The oil seemed like a lot but after mixing in the pasta seemed fine. I might break the cinnamon sticks up a bit next time and go a bit easier on the chiles as it was kind of spicy for us. I made it with GF pasta (Bionaturae) which seemed to absorb the sauce nicely so no need for the pasta water. All in all a very tasty pasta dish worth trying again.
Make this dish a few hours before and reheat. You will be happy you waited. The tomatoes get jammier and the rest of the concoction melds perfectly! Great recipe. Serve with claret
Any kind of smoked chili or smoked chili powder (chipotle, mulatto etc.). You want the smokiness and the subtle heat. You can also try a spoonful of canned chipotle peppers if you can find them (these won't be dried....sort of like a paste). I don't think you reconstitute the chilies, otherwise they could break open and you don't want that
This was disgusting. Oily, not lemony, and not something I would make again. I really didn't get what this was supposed to be, I followed the recipe exactly. Chewing on lemon peels and giant cloves of garlic? Not appealing.
You probably didn't roast it for long enough. Garlic cloves cook down to a soft, sweet, sticky mush when cooked like this. I use a citrus zester tool https://www.procook.co.uk/product/procook-lemon-zester-stainless-steel1?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp={campaigned}&cq_net=x&cq_plt=gp&nbt=nb%3Aadwords%3Ax%3A21334087812%3A%3A&nb_adtype=pla_with_promotion&nb_mi=127414221&nb_pc=online&nb_pi=5782&nb_si={sourceid}&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw4_K0BhBsEiwAfVVZ_z2bA3S6dsknbtnCG to zest lemons and limes.
This quote appears only in the article "The Most Important Seasoning After Salt and Pepper," which is linked in the paragraph describing the recipe. It's too bad it was left out on the recipe page itself, because it is key!
Step 2 of the recipe instructions state, “ Nestle the ancho chiles under the tomatoes, tearing in half if necessary to immerse them,” which means the chile will rehydrate during the roasting process.
You add just the strips, as I read it.
I used only a half cup oil and it was bordering on too oily. I’ve learned from YO’s confit chickpea recipe to scale waaay back on the oil. Added fresh basil and pecorino before serving. Better the next day.
This was awful. Greasy, tasteless. So disappointed. Totally failed recipe.
Roast at 350 degrees instead and less oil
350 degrees and less oil
I enjoyed the dish, but I will definitely cut down the oil--prob to 1 cup or maybe even by half, to 3/4 cup. Tomatoes don't brown floating in oil!!
I thought understood what to do with the lemon zest but after reading the comment about chewing on large strips of lemon peel I realized, needed to totally zest both lemons with my very sharp name brand micro-planer. So I’ll chop up the larger strips and put them back in. Way too much oil. I’m draining it off the top. I added 2, additional 15 minutes units of cook time and raised the rack more to the middle of my oven. I can’t find the tiny piece of cinnamon stick. Hahaha
Wish I'd read the notes first. Definitely reduce the oil & I'd increase the tomatoes. They were delicious but the proportions were off. Too much oil, not enough confit to flavor all of the pasta. Also the garlic didn't roast enough - peel & smash then roast? Disappointing.
Great summer meal - BUT the lemon peel strips at least at 2-3" length by 1/2" width seemed a bit large to eat after baking, I reduced the oil by 1/4 cup, and I believe the oregano sprigs should be partially stripped then bulk of the stems and leaves removed along with the cinnamon. End result I placed the mix in a bowl and used my immersion blender for a light few pluses. Then added the pasta for a great pasta dinner. Prepared oyster on half shell as a starter then served this pasta & a salad.
oh my my. Less oil. but so silky.
This recipe is fantastic. It's easy and delicious. I have made it exactly as written several times, and it always comes out great. Today, I had an eggplant on hand, so I threw it in. You cannot go wrong!
I like this recipe for its warm, sweet, smoky flavors and generous use of tomato. But there are problems: It specifies "2 lemons, zest peeled" instead of "2 lemons' zest, peeled" wrongly implying that the entire lemon is used (only use the zest). It says to remove the cinnamon sticks, but not the sprigs or zests (remove them, per photo). It calls for way too much oil (I poured off at least 1/2c at the end). And the flavor doesn't penetrate the pasta (fridge and reheat later --maybe bake mixed).
Great recipe but a bit oily. I used half the second tome and it was delicious. Love the Israeli inspired cinnamon-garlic-tomato combo.
I enjoyed this recipe, but I would recommend using half or even a quarter of the recommended oil.
Delicious, worth every minute of preparation.
This looks wonderful. DO you think the sauce could be made a day ahead and refrigerated, and. perhaps, even frozen?
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