10-minute lemon and dill smoked salmon pasta

Name: 10-minute lemon and dill smoked salmon pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients: 400g dried linguine or spaghetti; 200g WOH sliced smoked salmon, cut into ribbons; 200ml double cream; 50ml dry white wine (optional); 2 garlic cloves, finely grated; 1 unwaxed lemon, zested and halved; 40g parmesan, finely grated; 1 small bunch fresh dill, roughly chopped; 1 tbsp olive oil; Salt for the pasta water; Freshly ground black pepper

Prep5minCook10minServes4LevelEasy

This is the easiest, fastest smoked salmon recipe we know. Ten minutes from cold kitchen to plate, four ingredients doing the real work: pasta, cream, lemon, salmon. Dill at the end. The trick is the salmon goes in off the heat so it stays soft and the smoke stays clean. Use our oak-smoked sliced salmon if you can. It holds its shape in a hot pan where supermarket smoked salmon collapses into mush. Serve with a glass of cold white wine and a Wednesday-night sense of accomplishment.

Ingredients

400g dried linguine or spaghetti
200g WOH sliced smoked salmon, cut into ribbons
200ml double cream
50ml dry white wine (optional)
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 unwaxed lemon, zested and halved
40g parmesan, finely grated
1 small bunch fresh dill, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt for the pasta water
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil. Tip in the pasta and cook to packet timing, around 9 minutes for linguine.
While the pasta cooks, slice the smoked salmon into ribbons. Grate the garlic, zest the lemon, and roughly chop the dill.
Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Soften the garlic for 30 seconds. Don't let it colour.
Pour in the wine if using and bubble for a minute. Add the cream and lemon zest. Warm through until you see the first wisps of steam, no more.
Drain the pasta, reserving a mug of pasta water. Tip the pasta into the sauce. Squeeze in the juice of half the lemon. Toss to coat. Loosen with pasta water if needed.
Take the pan off the heat. Fold in the salmon ribbons and most of the dill. The residual heat is enough to warm the fish through without cooking it.
Stir in the parmesan. Taste. Add the rest of the lemon juice if you want more lift. Finish with the remaining dill and a generous grind of black pepper.

Tips from our kitchen

Reserve pasta water before you drain. It's the lubricant for the sauce and you only realise you need it after the colander's emptied.
Lemon zest goes in early so it perfumes the cream. Lemon juice goes in late so the acidity stays bright.
Smoked salmon never sees the hob. Off the heat, every time.

10-minute lemon and dill smoked salmon pasta

Ingredients

Method

Tips from our kitchen

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