Smoked Salmon Dill Fettuccine

Smoked Salmon Dill Fettuccine, creamy, smoky, silky, aromatic deliciousness with a dill twist, a perfect meal for any season and any occasion!

Smoked Salmon Dill Fettuccine,  elegant and beautiful, and it’s pasta, one of my favorite things to eat. Not because I am Italian and Nicoletta being from Italy, but because it tastes so so good!

Many of my best memories involves pasta. The Sundays when my nonna came to visit. Flour would be flying and eggs cracking with the sound of a squeaky table being moved as my mother and grandmother worked that pasta dough, more specifically home made spaghetti. I loved turning the handle that would spread that dough into sheets and then with another cut those sheets into velvety spaghetti. I was mesmerized watching my mother and nonna‘s hands working that dough into sheets then spaghetti flowing into their hands then lovingly placing them on another part of the table to rest and dry a bit.

My thoughts were on the smell that was coming out of the pot on the stove. Rich, sweet, acidic, voluptuous tomato sauce that had been cooking for hours and hours, thickening and intensifying in flavor. I would grab the wooden spoon and get to the bottom of the pot were all the pulp was and scoop it up to see it and then succumb to my hunger with a slice of pagnotta bread slathered with that pulp devoured in seconds. This is the Italian life, food, family. Keeping in this tradition and creating new memories we are making Smoked Salmon Dill Fettuccine.

The making of Smoked Salmon Dill Fettuccine.

I first tasted this dish in Italy with my wife. We had seen some smoked salmon (salmone affumicato, in Italian), and immediately Nicoletta was excited to have me taste a dish she absolutely loved and made often for her family. It was a smoked salmon penne dish that was so delicious and this panna (cream) which came in a little carton, so rich and creamy, I kept putting the fork to the plate to get the remains of the sauce into my mouth. The smoke on the salmon light, the texture of the salmon smooth, silky and melt in your mouth tasty. I loved it and became a fan.

Today we are bringing the tradition of this dish back home to Canada and making it with fettuccine, not homemade though, and some dill from our backyard garden. A quick trip to The Italian Center Shop and our bags are full of lovely ingredients including the fresh fettuccine, Sgambaro’s smoked salmon, the panna, and we are set.

Water’s on boil, nicely salted with sea salt. In the pan some good extra virgin D.O.P. olive oil, some onion minced finely, and that smooth velvet salmon just to saute for a bit. In goes the shot of whiskey, to simmer and reduce so that it sinks into the taste of the salmon, then the panna. The fettuccine, at this point, are in the boiling water cooking for the respective time on the package, but tasting required to get that beautiful al dente texture. Out comes the fettuccine and into the pan with the onions, salmon and panna (heavy cream could be substituted in place of panna, but check your local Italian markets if you have one close, for the panna). I usually pull the pasta out about a minute sooner and finish it in the pan with the sauce. This helps coat the pasta and helps sauce and pasta mingle into a great flavorful dish. Also I keep some pasta water just in case the pasta soaks up all the sauce and I need to lighten it a bit. The pasta water has some nice starch and it helps enrich the sauce too and not make it too watery.

The flavors of this dish are addictive. The fettuccine nice and al dente, always love that slight crunch. The sauce creamy infused with a bit of smoke and the flavors of the salmon rich in those fatty acids. The salmon morsels of goodness with that sweetness of the caramelized onions and the dill the perfect mate for the salmon and cream, and that ever so slight taste of the whiskey coming through in the cream. Bite after bite, lips smacking and plates being cleaned beyond belief. I hope you have a chance to try this recipe if you’re a pasta lover and have not yet tried it. I believe you won’t be disappointed. This to you, our nonne: Nonna Armanda, and Nonna Cristina for your loving hands and heart. We love you and miss you dearly!

Enjoy!

I would like to take this opportunity to send our condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the earthquake that happened in Amatrice, Accumoli, and other towns of central Italy. Our hearts and prayers go out to you. It is with great sadness and devastation this news.  We pray for the ones who still have not been found. There will definitely need to be some relief for those poor people. Maybe some Italian bands would love to get a benefit concert together to raise money to help them. Just a thought.

I nostri cuori oggi sono in centro Italia, ad Accumoli, Amatrice, e a tutte le altre città devastate dal sisma. Preghiamo per le famiglie che hanno perso tutto, incluso i propri cari. Speriamo nella collaborazione di tutti, compresi concerti di beneficenza, per aiutare a ricostruire. 

Song of the day: “Tears and Rain” by James Blunt.

Loreto and Nicoletta

Sugarlovespices

Smoked Salmon Dill Fettuccine

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients

• 250 g fettuccine
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 200 g smoked salmon
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 shot cognac or whiskey (we used Crown Royal)
• 1 Tbsp fresh dill
• Salt and Pepper to taste

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Instructions

1. Fill a large pot with water and salt. Put water to boil on medium high heat.
2. Cut the smoked salmon into slivers.
3. In a skillet over medium heat add the olive oil and when warm, toss in the chopped onion. Stir until the onion gets translucent and golden brown.
4. Add the slivered salmon, stir to coat the salmon in the olive oil, then add the shot of whiskey, let simmer and reduce to let the flavor sink in the salmon.
5. Add the panna or cream and cook for few minutes, then turn off the heat and sprinkle some dill.
6. When the pasta is cooked according to the cooking instructions on the package (usually for fresh fettuccine just few minutes), drain the pasta, leaving some of the cooking water in case you need it.
7. Place the drained pasta in the skillet and coat with the sauce, adding the pasta water, if too dry.
8. Plate and sprinkle with more dill on top.
9. Serve immediately.
10. Enjoy!

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 3 servings

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Looking for other Fettuccine recipes? Here we go:

FETTUCCINE WITH CRIMINI MUSHROOMS IN A WHITE TRUFFLE OIL AND WINE SAUCE

ONE SHOT SHIITAKE EGG FETTUCCINE

FETTUCCINE AI FUNGHI (FETTUCCINE WITH MUSHROOMS)

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