A quick and easy dish that doesn’t skimp on looks or flavor, pasta salmone e piselli (Pasta with Salmon and Peas) is a staple in our home. We have this or something similar for dinner just about weekly. Don’t ask me why I haven’t gotten around to posting a recipe for it in nearly 15 years of blogging… but anyway, it’s high time to correct the omission.

The recipe calls for just a few pantry staples—pasta, smoked salmon, frozen peas and cream—that at least in our house are always on hand. And it’s the kind of dish you can throw together and get on the table in the time it takes to bring water to the boil and cook your pasta. This makes it one of my to-gos for weekday dinners.

It’s a colorful, almost painterly dish, with its flecks of green and light pink set against a yellow background. And the taste? Salmon and peas also get along famously, just as well as the better known pairing of peas and cured pork like ham, pancetta or prosciutto. And the cream—which doesn’t figure in many recipes but for me is an absolute must—adds luxurious mouthfeel and richness.

And as quick and easy as it is, there’s a touch of elegance to pasta salmone e piselli, so you can serve it not only as an everyday dish for family and friends, but as a starter to a special meal.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

400g (14 oz) farfalle or other pasta of your choice (see Notes)
300 g (10-1/2 oz) smoked salmon, cut into small dice
200 g (7 oz) frozen peas
2 shallots, peeled and minced
250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
Butter
Olive oil
Salt

Directions

Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Salt it well and add your pasta. Cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, braiser, sauté pan or wok, melt a large knob of butter in olive oil. Add the shallots and sauté gently for a minute or so, until the shallot softens without browning, seasoning with a pinch of salt.

Add the smoked salmon and sauté until it has turned color, then add the peas.

Turn everything around for another minute, then add the heavy cream. Let the heavy cream reduce until it has reached a sauce-like consistency that will coat a spoon. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

When the pasta is cooked, transfer it to the pan with the salmon and pea sauce, along with a small ladleful of the pasta cooking water.

Raise the heat and toss everything together over a lively flame until the pasta and sauce are well mixed and the sauce coats the pasta nicely.

Serve immediately.

Pasta salmone e piselli (Pasta with Salmon and Peas)

Notes

As usual, you should take the measurements in the above recipe as estimates or guidelines. You may find you prefer more or less salmon or peas or cream. Personally, I never measure when I cook pasta salmone e piselli. Or most dishes, really. I just use as much as my eye tells me to or as much as I happen to have on hand.

Choosing your salmon

The recipe will work with any kind of smoked salmon, but if you want a result that’s the most typically Italian, then go for the cold-smoked variety. That said, both lox, which are cured but not smoked, and Nova, which is salt cured and then lightly smoked, are absolutely scrumptious in this dish as well. I’m much less keen on hot smoked salmon is just too smokey, in my opinion, for this dish, or for Italian dishes in general.

You can also make this dish with fresh salmon if you like. Remove the skin and any bones, then cut the flesh into small dice about the size of your peas.

Choosing your peas

Of course, pasta salmone e piselli would be at this theoretical best, especially in the spring, if you have access to truly sweet peas from off the vine. Fresh peas will take a bit longer to cook than frozen, so you should add them to the shallots first, along with a drizzle of water, and let them simmer until tender. Then add your salmon, followed by the cream.

That said, where I live, fresh peas are hard to find in local supermarkets and, when you do, more often than not, they’re disappointingly mealy and tasteless. If you have a farmers market close by, you could give it a shot. Ditto if you grow your own, of course.

But for most of us most of the time, frozen peas are the best choice. I don’t personally have a favorite brand, though as a general rule, the smaller the better (i.e., sweeter) they will be. No need to defrost them before cooking. In fact, better not to as they’ll be less likely to overcook.

Choosing your pasta

As for the pasta, I would go in one of two directions. For one, as shown here, you could go for a short pasta that will catch the bits of salmon and the peas. Farfalle (bowties) are a very common and excellent choice. You could also go for conchigle (small shells), the similarly concave lumache (literally “snails”) or the pasta twists called cavatappi. I could also see using tubetti, which pair nicely with peas, or perhaps fusilli. (Though, on a personal note, I have a strong dislike for fusilli. Don’t ask me why but it’s one of the few pasta shapes I actively avoid at all costs.)

If you prefer a long pasta, then I’d go with a fresh egg ribbon shaped pasta such as fettuccine (a classic pairing for smoked salmon we featured way back in 2010), tagliatelle or even tagliolini. You can let your own preference be your guide. Although not unheard of for sure, I’d avoid long thin dry pastas like spaghetti or linguini, which to my mind would make for awkward eating with this chunky sauce.

Variations

Most recipes for pasta salmone e piselli from Italian sources forego the cream. If you want to go this route, you might want to throw in a knob of butter at the end when tossing the pasta with the salmon and peas. Instead of cream, some recipes will provide a similarly creamy consistency by puréeing the peas.

While it was once quite popular back in the 70s and 80s, cream in general seems to have gone out of fashion in Italian cookery, and many Italians these days are well-nigh allergic to the stuff. (That’s a topic that deserves its own post.) But personally I love cream and use it all the time. The above recipe is the one I use at home.

I’ve seen recipes for pasta salmone e piselli that call for a bit of booze, usually white wine or vodka, which you add right after the salmon and before the peas. Personally I don’t think the dish needs it and, in fact, the alcohol would distract the palate. But again it’s really a matter of personal taste.

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