How to Make Pasta With Smoked Salmon in a Milk Sauce

Pasta is a remarkably adaptable food. You can combine it with just about anything and your guests will compliment your ability to innovate and create a magnificent meal. This easy set of variations uses smoked salmon and a milk-based sauce to make a beautiful and nutritious dish.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Pasta
• Smoked salmon
• Butter
• Flour
• Milk
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch of ginger
• Tarragon
• Parsley

1. Start with the pasta. There's more to pasta than spaghetti. Use anything you fancy. Fettuccine, angel hair, bow tie, even transparent Oriental noodles make an interesting dish. Many pastas now come in whole wheat or spinach forms. Some are available fresh in the refrigerated section. Your pasta choice will determine the look of your final dish; formal, stylish, exotic or comfort food. Read the directions and watch your pasta carefully as it cooks. Pasta should never be mushy like that canned spaghetti you loved as a kid. It should be "al dente"--firm to the tooth. A half pound ought to feed a family. Use more if you've got a hungry group or more than four.
2. Choose the smoked salmon. You'll need about a pound. Any kind is fine: plain old smoked salmon, whole or fillet, gravlax or lox pieces. Even canned smoked salmon, as long as it's been boned, can be used.
3. Make a Bechemel sauce. Make a roux with a couple of tablespoons of butter and about a quarter cup of flour. Melt the butter and add the flour gradually until it is completely incorporated. Cook over low heat until thick and completely cooked. Whisk about two cups of low-fat milk into the roux gradually, still over a low heat. Thin to your taste with more milk. Season with salt, pepper and a little ginger.
4. Combine your pasta, salmon and Bechemel sauce. The salmon will give the sauce a rosy tinge. Mix in a tablespoon of tarragon leaves and garnish with parsley. You may wish to add vegetables like bean pods or capers or you may just serve your pasta with a fresh salad and a warm loaf of French bread. Be creative and this can be a different dish every time you serve it.

Tips & Warnings

• Many cooks make up a quantity of roux and store it in a cool place so they have it to use as a base for sauces.
• Make your "fishy pasta" with salmon, shrimp, scallops or any combination that goes well with the white sauce. As a flavorful alternative to the Bechemel sauce, try using a half-and-half olive oil and margarine mixture with a little garlic and ginger. Sprinkle with diced fresh tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.
• Use rice flour and soy milk for a healthier sauce.
• Cook your pasta while you're preparing the rest of the ingredients and pour the pasta into a colander of the other ingredients to drain. That way all of your ingredients will be hot at the same time.
• Be careful pouring boiling water .
• Be careful not to use too high a flame on the roux--it will taste burned even if it doesn't look it.