Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
- Salt and pepper
- 1 one-pound salmon fillet with skin (about 1 inch thick)
- 1 pound corkscrew or other short pasta
- 10 ounces spinach, stems trimmed and leaves washed well
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
- Heat the broiler. Put fennel seeds in a small, self-sealing plastic bag, and crush with a rolling pin. Add parsley, brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the bag, and shake to mix.
- Press the mixture onto the skinless side of the salmon. Broil salmon, skin side down, until it is no longer red in the center, about 8 minutes.
- Flake the fish with a fork. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente, about 13 minutes. Reserve about 1/2 cup cooking water, and drain pasta. Return it to the warm pot, add spinach, and toss.
- In a bowl, mix together sour cream, lemon juice to taste, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons pasta water.
- Put pasta on plates, top with salmon, and drizzle with the sour-cream mixture. Or simply toss pasta and spinach in the pot with the salmon and the sour-cream mixture, adding pasta water as needed, and serve.
Note
You can use baby spinach or its mature counterpart in this recipe. Corkscrew-shaped pasta is fun to eat, and it's great for holding sauce. Penne, fusilli, or shells would also be good choices.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4