Judging by the comments on the last post, most of you guys are enticed by the idea of combining Salmon and noodles together. Well here’s another treat for you, and this time I’ll take you to Italy. Uh…. not quite, unfortunately. But we are cooking a pasta dish with Salmon.
I have a guilty pleasure when I was still living in Melbourne: La Porchetta. For those who don’t know, it’s a large Italian food chain with over 70 outlets in Australia and New Zealand. The food there is not glitzy and pretentious. In fact it’s rather simple, almost fast food like (I used to call it the Italian Maccas). This was the very first Italian restaurant I went to in Melbourne when I was still a humble uni student. I tasted my first ever Fettuccine Carbonara there. When I moved to Bentleigh for my job, there was an outlet located within 5 minutes drive of my apartment. So every now and then when I’m out of ideas to cook, I’d pay a visit to La Porchetta.
This is also the sort of place where I always ordered the same thing: Creamy Salmon Spaghetti. Granted, their version have much higher pasta: salmon ratio and always have too much cream. But I associated this dish to comfort, especially during winter nights. I’d rain chili flakes on the pasta and savour every strand. Ah… nostalgia….
So the other day I had a craving for the aforementioned pasta. There’s something about being able to replicate the dishes you like at home and perhaps enhance it, that is so satisfying. Turns out this were a 10 minute meal; maybe I should have been cooking this dish at home all along. Of course, I added some green stuff and tone down the cream and it tasted as good as I remembered.
Enough Spaghetti for 2
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1/3 cup chopped Onions
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Cream
Generous squeeze of lemon juice
Handful of fresh Parsley, chopped half and reserve the rest for garnish
Half medium sized Zucchini, cut into round slices
1 teaspoon Capers
100g smoked salmon, cut into smaller pieces
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Sprinkle of ParmesanCook the pasta in boiling salted water according to packet instruction until al dente.
Meanwhile, sautee onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add zucchini and saute for couple of minutes followed by capers. Add lemon juice and cream and cook for another minute or so. Stir in the parmesan and chopped parsley and turn off the heat. Season to taste.
Once the pasta is done, drain but reserving about 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Add pasta to the sauce and mix well, adding that reserved pasta water if needed. Add the smoked salmon, and garnish with more parsley.
As you can see this is even easier to put together than that last one. You can definitely use regular salmon but I think the smoked salmon works better with the cream sauce, plus you don’t even have to cook it.
This dish is creamy but not overly rich with the citrus note, the zucchini remained slightly crunchy, most importantly the smoked salmon and capers are the perfect combination. I like my pasta al dente (La Porchetta’s version is definitely softer) so to me this version is very much ‘Next Level’.
Now do you prefer the Japanese inspired Salmon with Noodles, or this version? I have a soft spot for this for you know my answer. I hope you will try this at home, as you can see it’s really easy, yet impressive enough to wow your dinner guests.
Kelly Siew Cooks 
This looks great! I think I’ll have to try it out this week! Thanks for the post!
You are welcome! If you want it to be even healthier then you can reduce or omit the cream.
Looks really good. I may give it a try in the week ahead… Wish me luck!
Good luck! Hehehe I’m sure you’ll be fine.
i still have angel hair & white sauce & salmon in the pantry/fridge!
hmmmm i also wanna give this dish a try! i prolly won’t garnish it with smelly grass, me no likey ๐
Made another version with thyme today, might be more to your taste. ๐
ooo, i just had spaghetti for a late dinner/early supper this evening to satisfy a craving, and it wasn’t a great outlet, so we chose a simple spaghetti with meatballs and tomato sauce. not very good, since the pasta was a little soggy and the meatballs tasted overly processed. would definitely and sincerely have preferred your salmon spaghetti ๐
Guess what? After I blogged about this I had another craving so made this again with the addition of one strip of bacon. Extra umami goodness!
What a lovely pasta dish. I love smoke salmon and creamy pasta together. This sounds perfect, for winter night or really, any time of the year. And I’ll do the same in adding lots of red pepper flakes on top. I love my pasta with a little kick too,
Yeah it’s definitely fine for summer too.
We love salmon and pastas; and I really like both of your Teriyaki salmon with Udon noodle and this Creamy smoke salmon spaghetti … Please don’t make me choose!! ๐
Consider ourselves lucky to be able to embrace many cuisines. ๐
Lovely, i would personally prefer more garlic and some chopped dried chilies to have the extra kick ๐
Dried Chili has the same heat as Chili flakes actually, I would suggest fresh Chili or Cayenne pepper. ๐ wow 2 cloves of garlic is not garlicky for you? ๐ I used quite fat ones too.
Hubby loves this dish so much! I think salmon and creamy pasta is such a nice combination and yours looks really good Kelly-especially with the chilli at the end! ๐
I have a confession: I added a whole lot more after the photo. ๐
Salmon, cream and capers – winning combo!
Yeah! Especially with lemon too.
gorgeous to look at and taste great… already sounds superb to me! my version would be the one with the chili… lol….
Heheh yeah I imagine most Asians would have it with Chili.
Looks so yum! yum! Kelly! I would sprinkle loads of chilli flakes too ๐
Yeah! Usually I add some in the beginning, finish that bit and add even more halfway through. Delicious!
this looks great! I think I gotta start cooking again!
Thanks! I think this recipe is fail proof and quite versatile actually. Last night I added smokey bacon to it. Do give it a try and make your own version.
I made your Teriyaki Salmon and Yaki Udon for dinner the night before last and my teenagers loved and inhaled it. Really fast and easy and tasty. Thanks we will be adding that one to the normal set dinners. I would also love this dish with the smoked and the creamy sauce. Do they also serve porchetta in this restaurant? That is so delicious.
Glad to hear that the recipe turned out well for you. And thanks so much for giving it a go! Ironically enough Porchetta is not served in the restaurant. It’s mainly pastas, pizzas, some main dishes like Chili prawns, chicken scaloppine/parmigiana etc. Italian fast food. ๐
Hi Kelly, I would prefer this dish since it uses smoked salmon. I love smoked salmon in everything or just eaten like that!
Ooh! My favourite way of eating smoked salmon is with poached eggs and hollandaise. Heavenly!
Kelly, i love La Porchetta! I must go there each time i dropped by melbourne. This pasta sounds great, smoked salmon and capers… I need to make this very soon.
Yay finally someone who shares my ‘guilty pleasure’ hahaha. What do you usually order when you go there? We like the pizzas too. at least they are full of toppings. Yah do give this recipe a try!
Just gorgeous!!
Thanks babe!
Hmmm spaghetti! Haven’t had that in a long time. Maybe it’s time for some spaghetti. ๐
Maybe you can try cooking this as well! Very easy.
Me๏ผhmmm I think I ask Mr Mah to cook safer, he better than me in pasta and western food. I only know how to fry veggie and eggs, hehehe.
If you know how to boil pasta you can make this la.
Hi Kelly! Lovely pasta dish!
Thank you!
You really like your salmon! Looks good ๐ Surprisingly haven’t had pasta for ages hehe ~
I so love noodles and salmon… how about the next one being salad noodles with salmon? Probably the same thing as the one you’ve just done but with heaps more fresh veggies ๐
Hahaha that’s not a bad idea. Now just need to think of the vegetables combination. ๐ Maybe a Vietnamese inspired version. Or Thai.
Ohhhh what a perfect pasta! Great use of smoked salmon too. Saving this recipe and will definitely give it a try.
Thank you! It’s super easy yet tasty!
OMG…you wouldn’t believe it!. Today I felt like La Porchetta Creamy Salmon Pasta…in fact its the only meal I eat from there. It is exquisite. Anyway I caled them up… I’m in Williamstown ( Melb) and they told me it’s been taken OFF THE MENU…OMG…I thought I would die…So I Googled La Porchetta Salmon pasta …and here I am…Cooked your dish…and Bellisimo!…I should have always cooked it to…thank-you..thankyou..thankyou…You have made my week. Cheers..Lou
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