This Pasta Alla Salmone is done in 20 minutes, so it's perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. This salmon pasta has a smooth creamy sauce of chilli, lemon and garlic combined with succulent still-pink fresh salmon & some tomatoes and parsley for freshness.
Also known as pasta al salmone, just add some super quick angel hair pasta and dinner is served.
I do love a piece of fresh salmon, and my method of pan-frying the salmon in chunks for this pasta alla salmone so that you can then flake them into the cream sauce gives you a lovely soft pink centre to each piece of salmon without it drying out.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this pasta alla salmone recipe
- Fast enough for weeknight dinners.
- Fancy enough for company.
- It's creamy pasta!
What you need to make this pasta alla salmone recipe
- pasta (I use angel hair for speed)
- fresh salmon - cut into chunks (see my top tips below)
- cream (45% milk fat with no thickeners added)
- mini tomatoes
- fresh red chilli
- fresh garlic
- juice of 1 lemon
- olive oil
- parsley leaves
- salt to taste
- parmesan cheese to serve
*Please see the recipe card below for exact quantities and detailed instructions
Top tips
- A note about cutting up the salmon. It will depend on the shape of your raw salmon, eg steaks, fillets etc - this will govern what shape your chunks will be. As long as they are at least 2 cm (⅔") at their narrowest point & even sized you will be good. The reason for this is so that you are able to sear the outside of the salmon in the pan first but the middle stays pink - this is what we are aiming for so we can flake it slightly for the finished dish & have lovely pink salmon. (At least I am - if you want your salmon more well done then feel free to make your chunks smaller, or fry them off for a minute or two longer).
- Any kind of small/mini tomatoes will do - I used a mixture of red & orange grape tomatoes.
- The amount of chilli you use is up to you. The finished dish doesn't have a really strong hit of chilli because we have discarded the ribs and seeds and the cream tends to mellow it out too. If you want more chilli flavour/heat, you could leave in the ribs & seeds, or add more.
Variations and serving suggestions
- You could use any other type/shape of pasta you have on hand for this pasta alla salmone like tagliatelle or penne.
- Fresh basil is also a great addition to this dish as the flavour goes really well together with salmon.
Suggested sides
Ciabatta Garlic Bread - my homemade garlic bread is packed with butter, garlic and fresh herbs plus parmesan cheese.
Crunchy Garlic Bread Bites - little cubes of garlic bread heaven. Lightly crunchy on the outside, but still slightly chewy in the middle, covered in butter and garlic goodness.
Quick Garlic Rolls (No Yeast) - fresh tender garlic bread rolls in 35mins, with no yeast required!
Cheesy Garlic Flatbread with Herbs - super simple and quick recipe for flatbreads stuffed with mozzarella, garlic and herbs.
Other recipes you may enjoy
Chicken Pasta Bake - made with leftover grilled or rotisserie chicken, smoky bacon and pasta all coated in a simple 2 ingredient cheese sauce.
Creamy Crab Pasta - a fresh combination of tomato, basil, chilli, garlic & lemon added to sweet crab meat, all together in a creamy sauce served with angel hair pasta.
Pasta Con Pangrattato - pan fried spaghetti with garlic, chilli and lemon zest then sprinkled with golden, crunchy sourdough breadcrumbs.
Lee-Ann ♥
Pasta Alla Salmone - Easy Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
- 450 g fresh salmon see note
- 250 g dried angel hair pasta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 200 g mini tomatoes - quartered (see notes)
- 1 long red chilli ribs & seeds removed - finely chopped (see notes)
- 3 plump garlic cloves crushed/minced
- 200 ml pure/pouring cream 45% milk fat
- juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cup parsley leaves firmly packed
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut salmon into even sized chunks - mine were 3 cm (1") x 2 cm (⅔") - as long as they are quite chunky & even in size (see notes).450 g fresh salmon
- Meanwhile cook pasta according to packet directions.250 g dried angel hair pasta
- Heat olive oil in a large non-stick fry pan over medium high heat, add salmon & fry for 1 - 1 ½ mins, or until coloured on all sides, remove to a plate (see notes).1 teaspoon olive oil
- Turn pan down to medium low.
- Add tomatoes, chilli & garlic to pan, stirring for 1 - 2 minutes - don't allow the garlic to burn.200 g mini tomatoes - quartered1 long red chilli3 plump garlic cloves
- Add cream & lemon juice to pan, bring to a simmer.200 ml pure/pouring creamjuice of 1 lemon
- Once simmering and cream has started to thicken slightly, add parsley and reserved salmon, stirring to combine.½ cup parsley leaves
- Simmer for 1 - 2 mins, or until salmon is heated.
- Add pasta to pan, stirring to combine & flake salmon chunks slightly.
- Serve with fresh parmesan cheese.
Notes
- I am no expert when it comes to species of fish - for this dish I used Atlantic salmon, because that's what my local supermarket had! I'm reasonably sure that you could substitute any sort of fresh salmon and get a very similar result.
- A note about cutting up the salmon. It will depend on the shape of your raw salmon, eg steaks, fillets etc - this will govern what shape your chunks will be. As long as they are at least 2 cm (⅔") at their narrowest point & even sized you will be good. The reason for this is so that you are able to sear the outside of the salmon in the pan first but the middle stays pink - this is what we are aiming for so we can flake it slightly for the finished dish & have lovely pink salmon. (At least I am - if you want your salmon more well done then feel free to make your chunks smaller, or fry them off for a minute or two longer).
- Any kind of small/mini tomatoes will do - I used a mixture of red & orange grape tomatoes.
- The amount of chilli you use is up to you. The finished dish doesn't have a real chilli hit, the cream tends to mellow the chilli out. If you want more chilli flavour/heat, you could leave in the ribs & seeds, or add more chillies.
This pasta was lovely and easy. A crowd favorite. Thanks.
My pleasure Sandee!