Wednesday 8 June 2011

Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Asparagus

I've been helping the BBC film a short documentary about our observatory for the last couple of days, which has involved quite a lot of walking and running about outside, getting the right shots in rather variable weather. So every day when I've come home, I've just been hungry for something simple. Yesterday the lovely SO cooked one of our classic staples and today I threw together this pasta dish as it was exactly what I wanted: light and creamy, yet smoky and nourishing; best of all, fast and delicious. We topped this with paški sir from our recent trip to Croatia, but any hard, smoky cheese will do.

Ingredients:

  • 300g dried pasta (we used farfalle)
  • a large smoked fillet of salmon
  • a large bunch of asparagus
  • juice of a small lemon (or half a large)
  • 4 tbsp crème fraîche
  • hard smoked cheese, or Parmesan

Set the pasta boiling in a large pan of water at a rolling boil, for the duration of its packet cooking time. Flake the salmon into bite-sized pieces. Snap the asparagus and slice into bite-sized lengths. Blanch for 2-3 minutes, until bright green and just tender, then drain.

When it's done, drain the pasta, and add in the flaked salmon, asparagus pieces, lemon juice and crème fraîche, and season well with black pepper (but not salt, as the salmon will likely be quite salty). Toss well, then serve in deep bowls with the cheese grated over the top, and more for people to add later.

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