Description
This creamy smoked salmon pasta combines tender linguini with a luscious garlic butter and heavy cream sauce, brightened with fresh lemon juice and briny capers. Perfect for a quick yet impressive dinner, this dish is rich, flavorful, and elegantly simple to prepare.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Pasta
- 1 lbs linguini pasta
- 3-4 tbsp pasta water (reserved from cooking)
Sauce
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 6-8 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
Other
- 1 lbs smoked salmon
- 2 tbsp capers, drained
- 1 tbsp parsley, chopped (optional for garnish)
Instructions
- Cook Pasta: In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook the linguini pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta and set aside.
- Prepare Sauce: In a large skillet or saucepan, melt the salted butter over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant, being careful not to brown it. Pour in the heavy cream and bring it to a boil.
- Add Flavors: Stir in the lemon juice and 3-4 tablespoons of reserved pasta water. Bring the mixture to a boil again until the sauce thickens slightly. Season with salt to taste, then turn off the heat.
- Toss Pasta in Sauce: Add the cooked linguini to the cream sauce and toss well to coat every strand with the sauce.
- Add Salmon and Capers: Use a fork to break the smoked salmon into smaller pieces. Stir the salmon and drained capers into the pasta mixture, tossing gently to combine.
- Serve: Optionally, garnish with chopped parsley before serving. Enjoy your creamy smoked salmon pasta!
Notes
- Make sure your skillet or saucepan is large enough to hold both the sauce and the pasta comfortably to toss them together easily.
- Do not brown the garlic when sautéing to avoid bitterness.
- The reserved pasta water helps loosen the sauce and helps it cling better to the pasta.
- Adjust salt based on the saltiness of the smoked salmon and capers.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (approx. 1/6 of recipe)
- Calories: 530
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 820 mg
- Fat: 27 g
- Saturated Fat: 15 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 48 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 27 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
