Creamy Pasta with Salmon and Asparagus
Simple ingredients like fresh salmon, crisp sliced asparagus spears, and cream come together in this easy pasta recipe for a perfect dinner that is fit for any special occasion and takes minimal effort!
Ingredients
- 1lb Your favorite short pasta (penne, farfalle, casarecce, etc.)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1lb Wild salmon fillets
- 1 bunch Fresh asparagus
- 2 Shallots, minced
- 3-4 Garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt, or more to taste
- 1/4 cup Dry white wine
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest, from one lemon
- 1 tbsp Fresh lemon juice, from half a lemon
- Optional: Parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Season salmon with salt and pepper. Heat a large stainless steel sauté pan and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Place salmon skin side down in the hot pan and let cook, undisturbed, until the salmon is cooked approximately two thirds of the way up the side of the salmon. This will take approximately four to six minutes. Flip the salmon and let cook, undisturbed, until the salmon is cooked the remaining way through - approximately two to three minutes. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate to cool.
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions until just al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat the same pan you cooked the salmon in on medium-high heat. Add remaining olive oil to the pan to heat, then add the asparagus and shallot, and a little bit of kosher salt, and cook until the asparagus is bright green and shallot is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant - this won't take long so don't get distracted! Deglaze your pan with the white wine and scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. This is important because it will get all that delicious flavor for the sauce that we're looking for. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine reduces in the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly add the cream to the pan. Make sure you use room temperature cream and really let the pan cool down before adding the cream. This is important to ensure the cream doesn't get shocked with a big change in temperature and separate in the pan. Stir the cream in the pan and let cook and reduce. Once it starts to reduce a little bit, add the parmesan, lemon zest, and lemon juice and continue to cook slowly stirring occasionally to reduce the sauce. Flake the salmon apart and add it back to the sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta along with some reserved pasta water to the pan with the sauce. You want the pasta to be cooked to just al dente to allow it to finish cooking in the sauce. The starch in the reserved pasta water will help give the sauce the smooth texture we want, and finishing cooking the pasta in the sauce will help the sauce to stick to the pasta. Once the pasta is finished cooking and the sauce reaches your desired consistency, remove from heat and serve in bowls. Top with chopped parsley as an optional garnish, and enjoy!