Does one have to like lox to be Jewish? I like sable. Isn’t that enough? When I was a kid, I was a picky eater as far as my family goes. My parents cooked for a pretty varied palate. My palate has thankfully expanded, but I still don’t like lox. The smell, the texture, and the taste all bother me. When J wants a agel with lox – he knows enough to eat it at the bagel store or while I am at the gym. Both of my kids like it enough. J loves it. When I head back to the midwest for a family visit – I have to bring back smelly packages to my parents. You can’t get the good east coast stuff in Minnesota. It’s a rough life, you know?
J went and picked up a small package of smoked salmon at TJ’s one Sunday morning. It was most definitely intended to be a special breakfast treat for him. Instead, I decided to play with it. Turn it in to some semblance of dinner. Can’t remember the restaurant, but J used to love this one place that served the pasta with a cream sauce and smoked salmon. I decided to surprise him with a nice dinner treat.
Pasta with Smoked Salmon in a Light Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 a box of thin spaghetti
butter
olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
handful of cremini mushrooms, chopped
zest from half of a lemon
salt
pepper, freshly ground
juice from half of a lemon
1/4 cup half and half
4 oz. smoked salmon, chopped
parmesean cheese
frozen peas – a handful or two
2 tbsp. dill, chopped
Instructions:
Cook the pasta until al dente. Do not overcook. Set it aside.
In a large pan, heat up some olive oil and butter. Toss in the onions and garlic. Cook it a bit.
Add the mushrooms. Saute a few minutes. Now add the cream and the lemon zest and juice. Add some salt and pepper. I would also recommend some red pepper flakes at this points.
Throw in the dill and the peas. When you are almost ready to serve, toss in the chopped smoked salmon. You don’t want to over cook that. Now toss in the pasta. Mix it up a bit. Shred in some parmesean cheese. Dinner is ready! Enjoy!
About Hindy Garfinkel