I love smoked salmon. It is so incredibly versatile, delicious and good for you, too. And it adds a touch of elegance to any dish in which it appears. Who could ask for more? One of our favorite weeknight dinners at home is this simple Smoked Salmon Fettuccine. If you’re using store-bought pasta, it can be whipped up in the time it takes to bring the water to a boil and cook the pasta. But simple as it is, this dish is also elegant enough to serve as the first course of an ‘important’ dinner.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
- 500g (1 lb) fettuccine or other pasta (see Notes)
- 250g (8 oz) smoked salmon, roughly cut up
- 500ml (1 pint) heavy (aka double) cream
- Salt and pepper
Directions
Cook your pasta al dente in well-salted boiling water.
Meanwhile, melt some butter in a skillet, then add heavy cream and roughly cut up smoked salmon. Simmer until the cream has reduced to a saucy consistency and the salmon has imparted its wonderful flavor to the cream.
Add your cooked fettuccine to the sauce and toss. Add a bit more cream if need be, making sure that the pasta still ‘flows’ rather loosely—fresh pasta tends to absorb its sauce quickly, and creamy ones especially quickly.
Serve your Smoked Salmon Fettuccine right away. No pasta should wait, but this one especially.
Notes
For the pasta, I like to make this dish with fettuccine, the typical ‘ribbon’ pasta of Roman cookery, or tagliatelle, its slightly thinner cousin from Emilia-Romagna. To make your own fettuccine or tagliatelle, make your egg pasta dough and roll it out (see this post for instructions). The pasta sheets should be fairly thin for fettuccine, almost paper thin for tagliatelle. Then cut your pasta sheets into ‘ribbons’ about 1 cm (0.4 inch) wide. Pasta machines generally come with two cutters; use the wider one for fettuccine and tagliatelle. Like all fresh pasta, cook in well salted, gently boiling water for just a few minutes—fettuccine will take a bit longer than tagliatelle—tasting for doneness after 2 minutes or so. Cooking time will vary according to thickness and how long the pasta has been drying before cooking.
While I like ribbon pasta best with this sauce, the recipe lends itself to just about any type of pasta. Tagliolini, which are made just like tagliatelle but cut into very thin strands instead of ribbons, are lovely with this sauce. Short pastas like penne or farfalle would also work well. I would avoid large pasta shapes like rigatoni, which I feel are a bit too clunky for this elegant sauce—but that is really just a matter of personal preference.
For a slightly more elaborate version of Smoked Salmon Fettuccine, gently sweat a bit of shallot in butter, then add your chopped salmon and sauté until it loses its raw color. Add a splash of vodka, let is evaporate, then add cream. Add chopped parsley along with the pasta and proceed as indicated in the basic recipe. There are other variations on the sauce. One calls for white onion and wine rather than shallot and vodka. And some recipes call for a bit of tomato, which makes a kind of salsa rosa, or pink sauce.
Some recipes for Smoked Salmon Fettuccine call for the additional of grated parmesan cheese, but I find that smoked salmon has plenty of flavor on its own. You can use fresh salmon instead of smoked in either of the variations mentioned above, but then season more aggressively as fresh salmon is not as assertive in taste as smoked.
Fettuccine al salmone affumicato (Fettucini with Smoked Salmon Cream Sauce)
Ingredients
- 500 g 1 lb fettuccine or other pasta (see Notes)
- 250 g 8 oz smoked salmon, roughly cut up
- 500 ml 1 pint heavy (aka double) cream
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook your pasta al dente in well-salted boiling water.
- Meanwhile, melt some butter in a skillet, then add heavy cream and roughly cut up smoked salmon. Simmer until the cream has reduced to a saucy consistency and the salmon has imparted its wonderful flavor to the cream.
- Add your cooked fettuccine to the sauce and toss. Add a bit more cream if need be, making sure that the pasta still 'flows' rather loosely—fresh pasta tends to absorb its sauce quickly, and creamy ones especially quickly.
- Serve your Smoked Salmon Fettuccine right away. No pasta should wait, but this one especially.
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26 Comments on “Fettuccine al salmone affumicato (Smoked Salmon Fettuccine)”
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What kind of smoked salmon is best? Cold smoked (lox) or hot smoked, which is chunky and flakes?
I’d go with cold smoked as a preference but the dish would work jut fine with either. Enjoy!
Just got some smoked salmon from Alaska! wondered what to do with it. No more wondering. this will be it!!
Enjoy, Nancy! It’s a winner, and really easy… ?
This sounds so good! What can I replace the cream with? We can’t eat cream. Would a mix of cottage cheese, milk and an age beaten up together still be okay?
Hard to find cream that isn’t the ultra-pasteurized stuff around here. Would subbing mascarpone in this dish work?
Mascarpone should work, I think—in fact, it has a similar texture to the kind of cream called “panna da cucina” that is used in Italy for cooking. But use it sparingly, perhaps diluted with a few drops of milk. NB: The mascarpone will add a slight acid note to the dish, but that might actually work nicely. Do let us know if you try it!
Looks really delicious…!
Great authentic Italian food blog..
this looks wonderful! lovely recipe!
Elegant is absolutely the correct word for this dish!
Francesco, I am impressed by the similarities between your recipe collection and a typical Roman family menu (with something old-fashioned or more southernly here and there). That's why I read your blog for suggestions and I am sure it will not be difficult to implement your recipes. Following your suggestion, tonight we had fettuccine al salmone, although we generally prefer pennette.
I had hears of the vodka and smoked salmos sauce. Really love this recipe too. Going to need to try both lol Great pasta recommendations there!!
I never incorporate salmon into pasta and after looking at this I wonder why! Next time I get some salmon I'll definitely give this a go 🙂
love this simple dish but I have not made it in a long time, the addition of the shallots is a must in my opinion and I like to add wine to bring out sweetness ….
As always, I love your post! Just warm and delicious always a lovely story. Thanks so much.
Let's see…… I love pasta, haven't found one I don't like. I love salmon, let's just say all seafood (except herring). And I'm quite sure I could live on cream sauces alone. Perfect dish, beautiful color, just right! Happy Sunday ~LeslieMichele
This looks quite tasty and accessible! Thanks for sharing! I think this is something that would satisfy the kids and the hubby 🙂
this looks so amazing Frank. I'm almost afraid to show this to my husband he's going to want it instantly.
Frank, this looks unbelievable!
Another slam dunk! Just once I'd like to see you make something I don't like…..good luck!
Looks luscious. Why would anyone put cheese on top of that flavorful dish?
a great dish!
I love salmon and fettuccine. My father makes the most delicious version of it with champagne.
I have been thinking about pasta lately, and looking at your dish makes me want to make it! you really captured the creaminess and beautiful texture of fettuccine!! yum – I've had pb leaving messages on your blog, I can only use my google account and not citronetvanille like in the past. Any idea why?
I incorporate salmon whenever I can. This looks and tastes like spring – just lovely. And I forego the cheese to let the salmon shine.