Pasta with smoked salmon is one of the standard Italian Valentine’s Day recipes (the versions printed are often aimed at men). This particular recipe is based on a dish of pasta I enjoyed many years ago at Il Pantheon, a restaurant in Rome.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound pasta, either penne or a strip variety such as linguine.
- 1/4 to 1/3 pound thinly sliced smoked salmon, shredded
- 1/2 a shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- A sprinkling of good vodka, brandy, or whisky (which ever you prefer, about a tablespoon)
- 1/2 cup whipping cream (unwhipped)
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
- Optional: several leaves finely shredded radicchio (arugola) -- stir them in with the salmon
Preparation:
Bring the pasta water to a boil and salt it; in the meantime prepare the other ingredients. Cooking the sauce will take 5-7 minutes, so check the cooking time of the pasta and begin the sauce about 8 minutes before the pasta will be ready.
Start by sautéing the shallot in the butter until it wilts, then add the salmon and cook a minute or so more, stirring, until it lightens in color. Sprinkle in the liquor (vodka will add a crisper note, and brandy a slightly sweeter one), stir until it is evaporated, and stir in the cream. Heat through, check seasoning, and it’s ready; sprinkle the parsley over it at the very end, just before you use it to sauce the pasta.
This is, as I said, off the top of my head; feel free to vary the proportions to suit your taste. It will, in any case, serve 2. The wine? A white, perhaps a Chardonnay from Friuli's Collio.
Start by sautéing the shallot in the butter until it wilts, then add the salmon and cook a minute or so more, stirring, until it lightens in color. Sprinkle in the liquor (vodka will add a crisper note, and brandy a slightly sweeter one), stir until it is evaporated, and stir in the cream. Heat through, check seasoning, and it’s ready; sprinkle the parsley over it at the very end, just before you use it to sauce the pasta.
This is, as I said, off the top of my head; feel free to vary the proportions to suit your taste. It will, in any case, serve 2. The wine? A white, perhaps a Chardonnay from Friuli's Collio.
