This creamy smoked salmon and dill pasta is one of my favorite spring dishes! Since many are at home and cooking all their own meals, this is an easy recipe to add to your rotation. I’ve seen a bunch of meme’s recently (and that hilarious Cardi B video) of folks bemoaning not being able to eat out because of our current Coronavirus quarantine. We all have much bigger problems to grapple with during this time, but these memes are nonetheless funny. This dish feels special enough to order at a restaurant or make for guests, but it is easy enough to make after a day of working and/or child wrangling. This dish seems fancy, but it’s like a big hug in a bowl. The best part – this creamy smoked salmon and dill pasta is made in one-pot and only takes 30 minutes to make!

One of my close friends from growing up, Alexis, is a wonderful cook and we often talk on Sunday’s about what we are cooking and meal prepping for the week. This is one of her all-time favorite recipes that I tweaked a bit. I honestly am not a big creamy pasta lover because they tend to be one-note, but this dish has so many different flavor dimensions. The bright flavors of the dill and capers really bring the flavors to life.

This is comforting, bright flavored and delicious. It’s good the night you make it or two days later in your lunch. It’s also very forgiving. So you could sub the peas and corn for other vegetables. It would be good with mushrooms, tomatoes and/or spinach as well. If you don’t have smoked salmon or want to sub in fresh salmon you have, go for it and make it your own!

Creamy Smoked Salmon and Dill Pasta

Ingredients

8 oz. smoked salmon, torn into 1- inch pieces
8 oz. tagliatelle pasta (any pasta will do, but a flat pasta tastes the best)
2 ears of corn (or ½ cup frozen white corn)
½ cup frozen petite peas
4 Tbs. finely chopped shallots (subst. 1 tbs garlic)
1 Tbs. drained capers
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. chopped fresh dill
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
4 Tbs. dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs. tomato paste
Parmesan cheese (optional garnish)
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

Recipe

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions and drain.

While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until golden brown. Next, add the salmon and cook, gently stirring, until opaque, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, scrape up all the goodies from the pan, and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add the salmon and cook, gently stirring, until opaque, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and then the cream and cook until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the capers, 1 tablespoon of the chopped dill, and the lemon zest. Add the pasta and toss to coat.

Serve garnished with the remaining dill and black pepper and top with parmesan.