Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta from Donna Hay


I have had this simple Donna Hay Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta dish tagged to make forever now. It has many of my favorite things in it like smoked salmon, capers, lemon, mint and dill. Since it's a no-cook sauce, it takes just a few minutes to make while you wait for the pasta to boil. An easy weeknight dinner, full of flavor. 


I made a few small changes to the recipe noted in red below--increasing the capers and decreasing the amount of smoked salmon (see Notes/Results below) and olive oil.   

Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta
From DonnaHay.com
(Serves 2

200g (about 7 oz) spaghetti (I used Barilla Plus w/extra fiber & protein)
1 Tbsp lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil (I used about 2 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp pasta water)
2 Tbsp chopped dill leaves
200g (about 7 oz) sliced smoked salmon, torn (I used about 1/2 the amount)
1 Tbsp salted capers, rinsed and chopped (I used 2 Tbsp & left them whole)
1/3 cup mint leaves
2 green onions (scallions), trimmed and sliced
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
lemon wedges, to serve
 
Cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 10–12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and return to the pan. Combine the lemon zest and juice, oil and dill and add to the pasta with the salmon, capers, mint, onion, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and serve with lemon wedges.


Notes/Results: Big flavors in a very quick and easy dish. The tart lemon, smokey salmon, briny capers and fresh and herby bites of dill and mint harmonize well. It's simple enough for a busy weeknight but the smoked salmon makes it feel elegant enough to serve guests. A few thoughts: I cut the olive oil--you don't need 1/3 cup of it, 2 tablespoons with an equal amount of pasta water worked just find--in fact I think the full amount would make it too oily. Smoked salmon is so rich that I used about 1/2 the amount of the 8 oz/227 gram package and it was plenty. I say use the rest of the package in either of these two fabulous Donna Hay recipes (Smoked Salmon Sushi Squares or Salmon Wonton Crisps) and save some $$$, sodium and calories. Donna says this recipe serves 2 but they are very good-sized servings. Serve it with a salad and you can get 3 or 4 servings out of it. I would definitely make this again. 


This pasta dish is being linked up to I Heart Cooking Clubs where the coming week's theme is Noodles, Noodles, Everywhere! You can see the different Donna Hay pasta and noodle dishes that everyone made by checking out the picture links on the post

 

5 comments:

  1. These are such perfect flavors for each other! Smoked salmon, dill, and lemon were meant to be. I would love a big bowl!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pam Armstrong GreerMarch 8, 2014 at 4:04 PM

    This looks like such a typical Donna Hay - so simple and so flavorful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful pasta dish! With all the colours and healthy ingredients, simple too, makes such a satisfying lunch or even dinner!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This was one of the first Donna Hay recipes I made and it's still one of my favourites. (and I think I made the same changes - less salmon and oil)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Couscous & ConsciousnessMarch 22, 2014 at 2:37 PM

    Delicious dish, Deb - great combination of flavours. I whole-heartedly agree about cutting back the smoked salmon. It is quite full-on in flavour, and I have definitely found that it can be a bit rich with pasta when there is too much of it. Good choice "upping" the capers too - can you ever have too many of them?!

    ReplyDelete

Mahalo for visiting and for leaving a comment. I love reading them and they mean a lot!

All advertising, spam, inappropriate (or just plain rude) comments will be promptly deleted. I do appreciate your right to free speech and to your opinion but I'm not into mean, rude, or mean snarky (non-mean snarky is just fine!) ;-)