Smoked salmon + pasta ?

November 21, 2013 8:24 AM

Is there a delicious way of combining sliced smoked salmon and pasta for dinner?

I'm trying to not kill myself here with my lack of culinary skills. I have a packet so sliced smoked salmon and a bag of tagliatelle nests. I want to make them into dinner. I don't have cream or creme fraiche, but I do have:

- passata
- cheddar
- green pesto
- onion
- sundried tomatoes
- hummus
- natural yoghurt
- eggs
- olive oil
- chicken
Other kitchen stuff like milk, flour, but nothing like capers or lemon.

Should I just give up and order a Dominos?

posted by Chorus to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

Smoked salmon in Alfredo is amazing. Just stir it in the Alfredo towards the end just to warm up the salmon but not pulverize it.
posted by ian1977 at 8:28 AM on November 21, 2013 [7 favorites]

FWIW, I once tried something like this using a single bottle of alfredo sauce—kind of a chicken alfredo pasta but with salmon instead of chicken—but I had too much salmon and pasta, so you could barely taste the alfredo. It was still good. The leftovers were too.

So for my money, a little accompaniment goes a long way with salmon and pasta. YMMV, IANAC.
posted by Z. Aurelius Fraught at 8:29 AM on November 21, 2013

I once mixed some smoked salmon with some re-heated leftover rice and a bit of mayo, and it was surprisingly delicious. Just cook your pasta, dress it with a bit of olive oil or mayo if you have it, and top with the salmon, it will be fine.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 8:29 AM on November 21, 2013

I would make a partial carbonara with the eggs and milk and some garlic and stir in some smoked salmon in at the end to warm through and pour it over the pasta. Should be great and very rich. I wouldn't add any tomato or pesto as it would overpower the salmon.
posted by koolkat at 8:34 AM on November 21, 2013 [6 favorites]

Do you have anything fresh and green that isn't the pesto? Frozen peas? Chives? Celery leaves? I think making a very simple sauteed onion and olive oil sauce would be lovely. Finish the pasta in it, and then add your salmon and fresh green something to heat. (If using frozen veggies, add before pasta to heat through.) A little green goes a long way. The smoked part of the salmon will have lots of flavor and you don't need to mess with it to have something super yum.
posted by Mizu at 8:39 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

My favorite is with a cream sauce, peas, and chopped smoked salmon, with a squeeze of lemon over the top. Given your ingredients list, I'd go with the yogurt (think of it as a cream sauce with tart lemon already added), maybe with a spoonful of passata mixed in to make you feel like you're cooking, and make sure to salt to taste while you're at it; warm it up, but be careful, because the yogurt will separate into curdy chunks if the proteins cook. Cover your pasta nests in the sauce, then a layer of smoked salmon pieces on top. On top is actually good, one of the challenges when you do a stirred-together version is that you want it all hot, but not so hot that it cooks the salmon. If you had a green vegetable, that might be nice, but I don't think what you've got (onions, salty sundried tomatoes) would do much to counterpoint the salmon.
posted by aimedwander at 8:40 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'd go simple. Toss pasta with the salmon, then drizzle with really good olive oil. Salt/pepper as you like.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:43 AM on November 21, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Lads, I actually had to google what Alfredo was... We're not talking world-class chef here...
posted by Chorus at 8:43 AM on November 21, 2013 [2 favorites]

Ahhh ok so some more explicit instructions:

Carbonara:

sautee (fry) some onions and garlic over a low heat until clear (onions go in first and then garlic 5 minutes after) (add some salt as it helps the onions cook)
Take some milk and add in an egg yolk and swiush around with a fork to mix.
Add some milk to the pan followed by the milk/yolk mixture.
Add a sprinkle of italian seasoning and possibly a tiny bit of crushed red pepper.
stir around under gentle heat until sauce thickens then add your chopped salmon
Add salt pepper to taste.
Pour sauce over cooked pasta.
Top with parmesan.
Eat and enjoy.


It is very easy to do, but you need to take care in the thickening of the sauce as if you heat it up too fast it will break, but it isn't really that hard and once you have the knack for it you can make some very nice pasta sauces to impress people for dinner.
posted by koolkat at 8:51 AM on November 21, 2013 [2 favorites]

Ah, okay! So what I mean by "very simple sauteed onion and olive sauce" is:

Put olive oil in pan on medium heat.
Slice onion thinly, put in pan with a little salt.
Cook onion until just starting to brown and is translucent and smells good.
Add a tiny bit of liquid, either water or stock or pasta water or whatever, and stir around to get any brown from the bottom of the pan up and into the liquid (to be deposited as flavor onto your pasta.)

Seriously that's it that's the whole thing.

Then add your almost cooked pasta (if it's fresh pasta just stick it in there. If it's dry pasta, boil it until it's a few minutes away from done, drain it and put the pasta in your pan with the onions.) Toss to coat, add your salmon and green thing, toss again, wait a minute while everything heats up and gets tasty. Taste for salt and maybe pepper. Consume.
posted by Mizu at 8:52 AM on November 21, 2013

Jar of Alfredo: $1.99 at local grocer. Not gourmet but good enough!

Or you can make it super easy. Flour, butter, cream or milk, garlic, pepper.
posted by ian1977 at 8:57 AM on November 21, 2013

If you can get lemon, Yuji Ramen does a really delicious lox ramen you could emulate (you can see it here).
posted by mlle valentine at 9:03 AM on November 21, 2013

I would cook the pasta, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe some garlic, then top it with a poached egg and the spinach.
posted by specialagentwebb at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2013

Warm the pesto, thinning it with a little pasta water if you need to. Toss that and salmon with pasta.

Serve with lightly fried egg over the top; the yolk will mix into the sauce.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:33 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

Pasta with smoked salmon cream sauce is a classic Italian dish, but even without the cream you can make it fine. Do you know how to make a béchamel (which is just milk and flour, but has to be done correctly)? Or do you at least have butter? Honestly even with just butter and smoked salmon you will be eating well. Add the green onions for sure, and peas if you have them.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:23 AM on November 21, 2013

This pasta recipe involves lemon cream sauce, asparagus and smoked salmon. It is so stupid good I cannot even. I always up the lemon (I love lemony food. I also love smoked salmon) and use half the pasta the recipe calls for. Eternal winner.
posted by 9000condiments at 10:36 AM on November 21, 2013

(That's okay, Chorus, I had to google what passata was.)
posted by aimedwander at 10:47 AM on November 21, 2013

Did you eat yet?

I like mustard sauce with salmon. Chop the the green onion (or leek), saute in a pan with a bit of oil and garlic. Add salmon. Add mustard. If you are fancy and have several kinds of mustard, add them all, the flavor will be even better. Add pepper. Only add salt if the mustard is not salty. Milk or cream will make it a bit more creamy. Add pasta. Toss. Enjoy.

Also a dill-pepper-cream sauce is nice with salmon.
posted by travelwithcats at 11:18 AM on November 21, 2013

I'm thinking carbonara too.

Giada Delaurentiis has one.

Super easy, don't rush the eggs.

If you don't have grated Italian cheese, I suppose a sprinkle of what you do have will be fine (but Peccorino or Parmesian...so good!)
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:21 AM on November 21, 2013

I LOVE smoked salmon and pasta with a lemon-cream sauce!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 1:29 PM on November 21, 2013

Personally, I'd be tempted to just have the pasta with a little butter and the salmon, much like Thorzdad's suggestion, but butter instead of olive oil. Although the pesto, thinned with a bit of hot water, would work too.

(Dammit, now I want that.)
posted by epersonae at 3:16 PM on November 21, 2013

Pasta - cook
Butter - melt
Smoked salmon - chop or tear
Throw together with salt & pepper.
Done!
posted by leitmotif at 7:15 PM on November 21, 2013