Farfalle with salmon
Pasta with salmon is an easy dish to prepare. Pleasing, seductive, comforting, all at once. This is probably the closest the Italian kitchen ever comes to the mittel European and American tastes.
200 grams of smoked salmon
400 grams of farfalle-pasta
200 ml of cream
50 grams of butter
1 shot of whisky
1 shallot
2 spoons of tomato sauce
Salt, pepper and chives
Sauté the chopped shallot in the butter and add the salmon cut in pieces no bigger than half a ‘farfalla’. Stir and then add the whisky. Let it simmer away for a couple of minutes, then add the cream and tomato sauce. Let is bubble for no longer than one minute. Add the drained pasta and one cup of the water it boiled in to the pan and mix, or add the sauce to the drained pasta, not forgetting the cup of water.
It can be topped off with some pepper and finely chopped chives.
There is a downside to this dish and it arises soon after the eating. Only people with a remarkable metabolism will be spared of the ‘brick in the stomach’ feeling. Make sure you have enough couches and armchairs to let your guest try to digest in.
Free advice
Since you are going to shred the salmon, there is no need buying neat slices. Supermarkets often sell the trimmings; they’ll do just fine for you pasta.
This is a dish that covers a whole meal. You might have a starter if you are really hungry and courageous. Serving meat or fish afterwards is simply excessive.
Butterfly-pasta has nice texture, and gives the name to the dish. It can be replaced by other ‘short ‘ pasta types. Thus becoming ‘pasta al salmone’.
But: stick to salmon
It would be wild to change the main ingredient. Apart from having to change the name of the dish, you’ end up with a different taste, texture and color. Feel free to experiment, but don’t say I agreed.