Smoked Salmon Pasta

Here's a pasta that comes together in about 15 minutes and yet is still nice enough to serve to guests. It was a great busy Sunday night dinner for us.

A good deal of the flavor in this dish comes from the smoked salmon, so I would suggest getting the a good one. Or you could smoke your own like we do. The rest of the dish is composed of classic salmon pairings; cream cheese, capers, red onion and dill. It's creamy with a little crunch from the onions and briny bited from the capers. We use skim milk and light cream cheese to keep the calories around 400 a serving, but we don't lose any of the creamy richness.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

4 oz medium shell pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 c chopped red onion
2 t all-purpose flour
1/2 c skim milk
2 oz light cream cheese
4 oz smoked salmon, flaked
2 t capers (Matt thought the amount was just right, I'd add more next time)
2 T chopped fresh dill

Cook the pasta according to directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Sprinkle in the flour, cook while stirring for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the milk until slightly thickened and bubbly. Turn heat down to low and stir in the cream cheese until melted. Add the salmon and capers. Stir and cook until everything is hot.

When the pasta is done, stir about 1/2 cup (use more or less to get the sauce to a consistency you like) of the pasta water into the sauce. Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce.

Serve with dill sprinkled over the top.

Makes 2 servings
Approximately 415 calories per serving

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