A simple, easy-to-make pasta recipe or two is essential, especially when you’re busy. Tagliatelle With Smoked Salmon & Whisky Cream Sauce is definitely one to add to your repertoire because it’s so delicious, very pretty on the plate and takes only a few minutes to make with ingredients that are easily found if not already in your kitchen.
Smoked salmon when it’s cooked has that same beautiful flavour, but it gets softer in texture and less chewy. Don’t be tempted to use regular salmon here – you won’t get the same effect. As for the whisky, I prefer to use something Scottish because it only seems fitting in a recipe that also has smoked salmon, but you can of course use whatever whisky you like. If whisky isn’t something you normally have on hand and you don’t want to invest in a bottle you could try bourbon, dry white vermouth or white wine, but it will make the flavour of the dish slightly different.
One final note on ingredients… The recipe calls for fresh tagliatelle, but we are aiming for quick & easy here so don’t let that stop you if it’s too much of a hassle. If you are someone who makes homemade pasta from scratch, this is a great recipe for those occasions because it’s quick & easy to prepare after the effort of making the tagliatelle yourself. However if you can’t find fresh tagliatelle and don’t fancy making it from scratch, try something like fresh papardella, fettucine or even spaghetti. Any long pasta will work. If you prefer to use dried pasta or that’s what you happen to have on hand, no worries, but it will take longer to cook so factor that into your planning. Perhaps start cooking the pasta before you start the sauce to get the timing just right. Let’s get started!
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter
Ingredients
- 50g unsalted butter
- 100g smoked salmon, chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 100ml double cream
- 5 tablespoons whisky
- 275g fresh tagliatelle pasta
- Salt & pepper
Method
- Put a pot of salted water with a drop of oil on high heat for the pasta.
- In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. When it starts to bubble up a bit, add the salmon and the lemon juice. Cook while stirring occasionally for a few minutes.
- When the salmon has lost its raw look, increase the heat to medium-high and pour in the whisky. Leave it to bubble away, stirring occasionally until it reduces a bit.
- Once the whisky has reduced and looks syrupy, reduce the heat to low and pour in the double cream. Season with some salt & pepper and leave to cook on low heat while you quickly cook the pasta, stirring occasionally.
- Boil the pasta according to packet instructions – usually about 3 minutes for fresh pasta. Before straining, reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Strain the pasta and pour it into the pan with the sauce. Add a little bit of the starchy pasta cooking water to the pan and toss to coat. Serve hot with a crack of black pepper across the top.
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