Pasta with smoked salmon in a smoky sauce
Smoked fish makes a delightful companion for pasta, for the same reasons as bacon does. It imparts an intense, smoky flavour to its carrier, the cream, and some delicious chunky bits to float through the pasta. The way to go is to use one set of chunks to flavour the cream, and a new, uncooked set to provide freshness at the end. Smoked trout, the rainbow variety, tends to be flakier than the superior salmon or ocean trout, but there is an advantage – it’s also many multiples cheaper. Use the cheapie to flavour the sauce, the costly version to add style and freshness to the plate.
150ml cream
I cup fish stock, flavoured with aromatic vegetables
the flesh from half a smoked trout to flavour the sauce — remove the flesh from the bones, taking care there are no bones attached.
zest of 1 lemon
50 g butter
salt
black pepper
a shaped pasta, like farfalle – little butterflies, or little bow-ties, depending on your imagination
1 cup shelled peas bunch of chives, chopped finely
several slices of smoked salmon — allow 1 slice, cut into slivers, per person.
1
Cook the cream with the stock, gently, mixing the one through the other. Add the smoked trout and lemon zest, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, on a low heat, until the sauce is bubbling and much thickened. You might need to add a little more stock or water if it is getting too thick. Taste and season with salt and black pepper. Strain, discarding the trout chunks, and set the sauce aside.
2
Cook the pasta until just done, adding the peas towards the end of the cooking.
3
Gently warm through the sauce, whisking the butter into it. Toss the pasta and peas through the sauce, working most of the chives through, and place the smoked salmon strips on top. Sprinkle with the extra chives.
WINE: Smoked trout calls for a good bottle of chilled white. Rhine riesling or chardonnay will do the trick.