Smoked Salmon Pasta with Crispy Capers
This indulgent, decadent and flavor packed smoked salmon pasta is such a comforting treat at the end of the day. It's elegant enough that you can serve it to guests, but easy enough you can make it for two at the end of a busy work week. Pair with a bottle of crisp Chardonnay and you've got a gourmet meal at home that feels special any time of the year.
Ingredients
- 8 oz dried pasta such as tagliatelle or fettucine
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon capers drained
- 2 shallots minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ C white wine
- 1 C heavy cream
- 4 oz cream cheese
- ½ C pasta water
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 C smoked salmon roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoon dill
- 2 tablespoon chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions. Make sure to reserve ½ cup of pasta water for the sauce later on in the recipe.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high in a large sauté pan. When the oil is hot, add the capers. Fry the capers until their skins are starting to split (you'll also start to hear them crackling loudly). This will take about five minutes. Remove to a plate with paper towel and set aside.
- Drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil left in the pan. In the same pan over medium heat, add the shallot and the garlic. Cook until just fragrant, about one minute. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Reduce the wine until it's almost completely evaporated.
- Add the heavy cream, and the cream cheese. Break up the cream cheese into smaller pieces, and stir occasionally until it's melted (this could take up to 10 minutes). Add the salt and pepper. Taste, and then adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Add the reserve pasta water, and stir. Add the pasta to the pot and toss to combine.
- Add the smoked salmon, and toss the pasta again.
- Place pasta in a large serving bowl. Add dill, chives, and crispy capers to the top, and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Make sure to reserve some extra pasta water so you can adjust the thickness of the sauce if necessary.
- Pick a wine that you would pair it with to cook with (see below for more details, but a Chardonnay or a Sauv Blanc would work well).
- Taste for salt near the end. I ALWAYS recommend tasting your sauces for seasoning - but it's particularly important for cream based pasta sauces. The cream tends to soak up a lot of that salt flavor, so you might need more than you think!
- DON'T SKIP THE CRISPY CAPERS. They take five minutes and take this dish from great to gourmet - I promise, you won't regret it!
Nutrition
Serving: 250gCalories: 605kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 12gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 21gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 715mgPotassium: 296mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 1353IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 95mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!