What’s for dinner? When will dinner be ready? While I was working on those answers…short ribs, in about 3 hours …time got away from me. Just like my blogging. Although I have not been writing, I have been cooking. The family has continued to be fed…if not as promptly as they would like.
The thought was to braise short ribs tonight because they looked so great in the market. Of course, meetings and deadlines got in the way. All this prevented me from beginning the process of preparing braised ribs. This, as many of you know, is a long process.
So, dinner tonight was baked salmon. Luckily, there is a wonderful fish market near the indoor batting range. Although there is still plenty of snow on the ground, training for baseball season has begun. Too late for short ribs, but still time to dash my son off to practice, pick up some salmon, along with a wonderful cold asparagus salsa, and back home to cook.
I usually bake salmon on a bed of angel-hair pasta. As the salmon bakes, its juices baste the pasta that forms a nest under the fish. Very simple to prepare and makes a lovely presentation. Though alas, I didn't have any angel hair pasta in the house. So, tonight it was prepared with whole wheat linguine. Not quite as elegant, but good enough for a quick meal.
Salmon baked on pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh pasta - 1 package of linguine or 2 packages of angel-hair (9 oz each)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (what ever you have on hand, parsley, oregano, etc.)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless salmon fillet
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub the bottom of a 12-inch baking dish with enough oil to make a thin coat. Set aside.
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain the pasta, shaking the colander to remove excess moisture.
Return pasta to pan and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil, half of the herbs, salt and pepper. Pour pasta into prepared dish, arranging it in a flat nest.
Cut the salmon into four even-sized strips, each about 2 inches wide. Lay the strips on the pasta, skinned-side down, setting them so that they're close but not touching.
Rub the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over the salmon and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake the salmon, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until the salmon is not longer opaque and the pasta looks crusty at the edges.
Serve immediately with a fresh vegetable salsa on top.
4 comments:
Great idea to bake salmon on top of pasta - I am going to give that a try!
Nice presentation -- I will remember that next time I make salmon.
What a lovely presentation! Even before reading the recipe, I marveled at that. The wheels are spinning, me already trying to figure out something else to cook like that.
Hi, t.w. - try it and let me know what you think
Lydia, thanks, it turned out looking better than expected.
Terry, thanks and I'll be anxious to see where inspiration takes you.
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