#8 - Farfalle al Salmone

One of the things we've being trying to do lately is have more fish in our diet. So we looked up a new pasta recipe that had salmon in it. We're not sure if covering fish with creamy tomato sauce is the healthiest thing, but it's better than nothing. Maybe.

Farfalle al Salmone

From The Classic Pasta Cookbook
We looked up a new fish pasta recipe in The Classic Pasta Cookbook, which already taught us how to make pasta from scratch. We weren't brave enough to do a crazy seafood one with frutti di mare, and this salmon recipe seemed pretty manageable.

All we needed to get from the store was the salmon and some basil because our plant has been dead for some months now. It is the winter.
One of the things we've learned from watching so many Food Network shows is that you don't have to get bogged down with chopping garlic all the time. Instead, we bought a second zester which we use only to shave garlic. The key to this technique is labeling the garlic grater so recipes that call for lemon zest don't end up smelling like meatballs.
Oddly enough, we used a second technique we learned from the Food Network for this recipe. The fanciest knife cut Emily knows is the chiffonade. You just stack and roll an herb and cut them into thin strips so when it unfurls it looks really pretty.
This was a pretty easy recipe to make; the hardest thing was removing the skin from the raw salmon. If you could get it de-skinned when you buy it, that would be a pretty good idea.

After that, everything cooked in one pan, so it was pretty straightforward to make and pretty easy to clean up. And on top of that it was delicious.

The red pepper flakes really gave it that extra kick so it wasn't overly rich. But it was pretty rich. And tasty. And one of the less healthy fish dishes we've had lately. We're trying though.
If you wanna give this one a try, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• Salt
• 1/2 lb fresh boned salmon cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbs fresh basil, shredded
• 1 lb farfalle pasta

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook until the garlic begins to lightly brown.
2. Add the tomatoes, and season with salt to taste.
3. After the tomatoes start bubbling, turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook until the tomatoes have reduced, about 20 minutes.
4. Bring the heat back up to medium-high and add the salmon, cream, and a pinch of salt.
5. Cook until the cream has reduced by half.
6. Stir in the basil, and take off the heat.
7. Cook the pasta to al dente and toss with the sauce.