Salmon Vodka Tagliatelle

This is a perfect Friday easy meal.  Pasta off the pantry shelf, smoked salmon off-cuts and few other bits and pieces = gourmet food made at home!

There are so many variant recipes for this tasty dish with a wide range of pastas being used.  I love tagliatelle as it has a porous and rough texture which really sucks up the creamy sauce and richness of the egg yolk.  Tagliatelle is basically egg pasta - ratio 1 egg to 100g flour if you keen to make your own - and is a long flat pasta and a similar shape to that of fettuccine.  

Pasta offers great health benefits including providing glucose, a crucial fuel for the brain and muscles. It is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates which provide a slow release of energy.  Unlike simple sugars that offer a quick, and fleeting boost of energy, pasta helps sustain energy.

I generally work a 150g - 200g portion per person, which I find is more than enough, with no leftovers.

Salmon Vodka Tagliatelle 

Serves 2

• 400 g Tagliatelle
• 2 Tbsp butter
• ½ white onion, grated
• 1 Tbsp good tomato sauce
• ¼ cup vodka
• 1 Tbsp good tomato sauce 
• 1 cup single cream 
• 180g smoked salmon, cut into strips 
• Salt & pepper 
• 1 egg yolk 
• 2 Tbsp chives, thinly sliced

In a pot of salted water add a dash of olive oil and cook the pasta as per instructions on the packet.

In a large pan melt the butter and then add the onion and cook on medium until they have softened. Add the vodka and cook for a further 1 minute to burn off the alcohol.  Now add the tomato sauce and cream and simmer, still on a medium heat for 5 min.  Lastly, stir in the salmon slithers and season with a little salt and loads of fresh cracked black pepper.  Remove sauce from the heat.

When the pasta is ready, drain and ADD TO THE PAN - not the other way around.  Still off the heat, add the egg yolk and stir through to coat the pasta.

Return the pan and pasta to the stove and warm through on a low heat.  Serve immediately.

Smoked Salmon & Blank Ink Pasta

This sounds far more glamorous that what it actually is.  It is all about simple, fresh ingredients and if you don't have black ink pasta, normal pasta is just as good.  The liquorice pasta colour is a great contrast to the salmon but carries little flavour actually.  

  
250g pasta of your choice

8 Tbsp milk

2 tsp fresh dill, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

200g light Philadelphia cheese

180g smoked salmon, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper to taste

Splash of hot sauce / Tabasco sauce

Cook pasta as per instructions on the packet

Warm milk in a saucepan on medium heat

Add dill, mustard and cheese and stir until melted

Stir in slithers of salmon, lemon juice, salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste

Strain pasta and whilst still hot, pour sauce over and toss to coat

Serve with fresh dill and shaved Parmesan cheese

Bon appetite! and enjoy the Sunday evening movie ... wherever you are!

          ~ Michelle ~