Pink Pasta – Linguine with Salmon, Prawns and Dill

This recipe is inspired by a baked salmon dish that my sister very often makes. We call her Mrs Pink, since she loves pink and lots of things in her house are pink. When she made this salmon dish for me once, I giggled because it was pink!

Whenever I make her baked salmon, I use any leftover sauce and salmon for the next day and make a pasta dish out of it. However, last night I skipped the baking part and just made it as a pasta dish, since I only had two fillets of salmon to use and wanted a quick supper. 

To make the baked salmon, you follow the same method up to step 6, pouring the sauce into a large baking dish and placing the salmon fillets inside the sauce (up to six for this quantity). Bake it in the oven for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, or until all the salmon is cooked through.

Last night I poached my salmon fillets separately in a small frying pan with some milk. I kept the small amount of poaching liquid that was left in the pan and added it to the sauce for maximum flavour. It is also fine to use leftover poached salmon, or just a packet of flaked salmon. 

If I were making this for kids I would probably leave out the prawns, but since I had some in the freezer I threw some in.  I adore linguine pasta, cooked al dente, particularly with any fish sauce.  My kids also like farfalle, or bow tie pasta with this.

Lastly, you can chop up lots of fresh dill and stir it into the sauce or if you prefer, just serve it with a spring on top. At home now we call this dish ‘Pink Pasta’.

Pink Pasta with Salmon, Prawn and Dill Inspired by my ‘pink’ sister Ingredients 250g linguine pasta 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 150g fresh mushrooms, sliced 30ml marsala wine (or use brandy or even white wine) 400g or a can/jar of tomato passata 150ml single cream (or use creme fraiche) 2 cooked/poached salmon fillets, flaked 200g fresh or frozen king prawns A few springs of fresh dill Method 1. Cook the linguine in a very large pan of boling, salted water, for one minute less than the packet instructions. 2. Poach your salmon (if it is not already cooked). I put the salmon fillets into a small pan and pour 150ml over the top and gently poach it with the lid on for around 5 minutes. 3. To make the sauce, add a tablespoon or two of oil to a separate frying pan and cooked your onions, on a gentle heat, until they start to soften. 4. Add the mushrooms to the frying pan and keep cooking. 5. Once the onions and mushrooms have softened, add the marsala/wine/brandy (or even just use vegetable stock) and boil until all the liquid has almost gone. 6. Add the tomato passata and leave it to cook for around 5 minutes on a low heat. 7. By this stage check the pasta is cooked and drain. I always save some of the water that the pasta has cooked in and to add into my sauce as it helps the sauce stick to the pasta. 8. Pour your cream into the sauce, add in your prawns, if using, and keep cooking the sauce on a low heat for a few minutes until the prawns are cooked. If your prawns are frozen they will need about six minutes and if the prawns were raw they will turn pink when cooked. Add in your cooked, flaked salmon pieces. 9.Pour the fish sauce into the large pan of drained pasta, add a few spoonfuls of pasta water, stir well until everything is coated. Add your chopped dill. Eat and enjoy!

Since this is a pink dish, I am joining in, for the first time, with Meeta’s Monthly Mingle(from her blog What’s for lunch, Honey?) which is hosted this month by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. The theme is ‘Think Pink’, which is very appropriate for my sister! Thank you Sarah for hosting and to Meeta for the theme. It’s lovely to discover other blogs. This would be a great dish to entertain your friends with!