If you’re on the hunt for an impressive meal you can pull off in just 30 minutes, this dreamy, Creamy Pasta with Smoked Salmon should be on your radar. Featuring perfectly al dente pasta tossed in a lemon dill cream sauce with gorgeous pink flakes of salty smoked salmon, this stunner of a recipe is built for date nights and dinner parties.
OptionalGarnishes:Capers, Snipped Chives, and Lemon Wedges
Instructions
Sauté Aromatics: Melt the butter with the oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the shallots, dried dill, and red pepper flakes. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until shallots are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until aromatic, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Deglaze the Pan: Add the wine to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the wine has mostly evaporated, about 2-3 minutes.
Add Broth and Pasta: Next, pour the broth into the skillet. Then, add the penne pasta, making sure the noodles are submerged in the broth. Season the broth with a generous pinch of pepper.
Bring Contents to a Boil: Increase the heat to high and bring the broth to a slow boil. As soon as the broth starts to boil, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Stir the pasta once.
Cover and Cook the Pasta: Cover the skillet and let the pasta cook for 4 minutes. Remove the lid, give the pasta a good stir. Return the lid and continue to simmer for 4-7 minutes, or until penne is just al dente. (Note: The penne will continue to cook, so be sure you don’t over cook the pasta in the step. It’s better to err on the side of caution and under cook the noodles slightly.)
Add Cream Cheese: Reduce the heat to low and add the cubes of cream cheese to the pan. Whisk the cream cheese into the broth.
Add Milk and Parmesan: Once the cream cheese is completely melted, add the cream and parmesan cheese. Cook for 1 minute, stirring the penne pasta until a smooth, creamy sauce forms. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little bit of milk until desired consistency is reached. (Note: Pasta will thicken as it sits!)
Add Smoked Salmon, Lemon, and Dill: Add most of the smoked salmon (reserving some pieces to garnish the top), lemon juice, lemon zest, and fresh dill to the pasta. Gently mix until everything is combined.
Cover and Let Salmon Steam: Remove the pan from the heat and cover the skillet. Let sit for one minute. Then, uncover and stir the salmon and pasta. Taste and adjust the dish as you see fit, adding salt and pepper for overall flavor, dill for freshness, lemon for acidity, and adding a splash of milk or wine if needed to thin the pasta sauce.
Garnish and Serve: Transfer the creamy smoked salmon pasta to serving bowls and garnish with reserved smoked salmon, more dill, grated parmesan, and capers if using. Serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side and enjoy!
Notes
Pasta: You can switch the type of pasta noodles if you like; however, please note you may need to adjust the cook times accordingly. You can also use long noodles, such as fettuccine; however, you’ll need to break them in half before adding them to the broth to cook.
Salmon: You can use lox or traditional hot-smoked salmon for this recipe, depending upon your personal preferences – or use a combination of both if you like.
Cold-smoked salmon (also known as lox) has a softer, meltingly tender texture, while hot-smoked salmon is a little firmer and flakes apart like cooked salmon. (Pictured – hot smoked coho salmon)
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Recipe Serves: 4-6
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and the nutrition facts are an estimate based upon 6 servings. Exact information will depend upon the brands of ingredients and precise measurements used.