Salmon and pesto spaghetti

Think salmon sashimi and pesto with noodles and you get a good idea what this salmon and pesto spaghetti is all about. When my younger daughter announced earlier today that she wanted to go on a pasta and pesto diet for the rest of the summer, I decided to humor her.

Why not? That’s less work for me and there are so many variations of pasta with pesto that I’ve been dying to try anyway. I’ve made pasta and pesto with smoked salmon, pasta and pesto with bacon and plain pasta and pesto with no meat nor fish. I’ve been meaning to try another no-meat-nor-fish version by throwing in some barely cooked asparagus but that’s something for another day.

What I had was a small piece of salmon and that was what I used. I made the pesto from scratch in less than 10 minutes while boiling the pasta. Preparation was fast and easy, labels I prefer during the summer when no one wants to stay in front of a hot stove longer than necessary.

If you have 15 minutes to make dinner but you don’t want to short change your family by opening a can, here’s a pasta recipe where the only cooking involved is boiling. You’ll have to adjust the amount of ingredients depending on how many persons you intend to feed. I only cooked a small batch tonight because there was still leftover pork steak stew from lunch.

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Salmon and pesto spaghetti

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 3 to 4

Author Connie Veneracion

Ingredients

• 150 grams spaghetti
• 100 grams fresh salmon (thawed if frozen)
• 1/4 cup pesto (or more)
• grated cheese for garnish

Instructions

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
2. While the pasta cooks, slice the salmon as thinly as you can without breaking the flesh.
3. Make the pesto if you’re in the mood for home made. Otherwise, just measure the amount you need.
4. Drain the pasta without rinsing in cold water and place in a large bowl. Add the sliced salmon.
5. Reserve about two tablespoonfuls of pesto and pour the rest over the salmon and spaghetti.
6. Toss gently. The heat of the newly cooked pasta will partially cook the salmon so that the edges turn opaque. If you do not like raw fish, heat a tablespoonful of pesto in a small pan, add the salmon and cook just until the flesh turns opaque. Then, add to the pasta and toss with the rest of the pesto.
7. 
8. Transfer the salmon and pesto spaghetti to a serving bowl or platter, garnish with grated cheese and drizzle the reserved pesto.