Smoked Salmon Fettuccine

OK so by now you should all know that we can officially file Bobby's red velvet birthday cake under "Things That Didn't Work." I leave out one little thing because I'm being NICE, and it turns to a brick. Not to mention the frosting was like painting a red brick with straight butter. Mmmm Mmmm Good, right? Bobby ate the obligatory "I love it honey!" piece and we tossed the rest. And to think, I got my beautiful cake plate dirty for nothing!

But the evening was redeemed with my (mother's) smoked salmon fettuccine. So simple, and so reliable! And I may have grown up eating my dad's freshly smoked salmon, but you really can get some good pieces at the grocery store--especially for pasta! If you're not a smoked salmon aficionado, make sure you go to the seafood section and usually under the fresh fish display they will have packaged smoked salmon fillets. Make sure you get a fillet, and not thin slices--because those are called lox and they go on your bagel, not in your pasta. Bobby has brought them to me many-a-time only to be sent away.

Bobby's Birthday Smoked Salmon Fettuccine

2-3 smoked salmon fillets
1 box of bow-tie pasta (it has a great way of holding bits of salmon)
1/2 cup diced onions
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/4th cup butter
2 cups heavy cream1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Tabasco, salt & pepper to taste

Flake the smoked salmon into bite-sized chunks with your fingers or a fork. In a large skillet, saute the onion in butter for about 3 minutes. Add the cream cheese cubes and stir into the onions until melted. Add cream and a few dashes of Tabasco to the skillet and keep warm over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, boil pasta and drain once cooked.

My mother heats a large pasta bowl in the oven and then moves the pasta over and prepares the rest in the bowl. I'm not too sure my pasta bowl can go in the oven, so I pour the pasta into the skillet with the cream sauce to finish the prep. Combine pasta and sauce, add smoked salmon and stir well. Serve immediately and top each bowl with a few pinches of Parmesan cheese, and add salt/pepper (esp. pepper) to taste.


It's a pretty quick and easy dish, but smoked salmon isn't in the budget every week--and neither is cream sauce! Different kind of budget though haha :-) So it's great for special occasions. We also rounded out Bobby's birthday with the conclusion of Bobby's OBGYN rotation and a *successful* final exam for him, followed by the BEST meal ever at Palermo Viejo on Bardstown. There was provaleta, empanadas, steak, more pasta, pancakes de dulce de leche, homemade banana icecream, and of course a great bottle of Cabernet. He is officially over the 20-something hill and older than me for 4 whole weeks! See you at the other end of Pisces my love...