June recipe: Smoked salmon with cream and pasta

This is a simple and delicious dish for a warm summer day when you don’t want to do much cooking. It goes particularly well with early summer vegetables such as asparagus, mange-tout, peas or green beans. I like it either with hot-smoked salmon (the kind you flake) or cold-smoked salmon (the kind that comes in thin translucent pink slices) – they are slightly different, but both work well.

If you don’t like smoked salmon, you could also make it with chicken breast, thinly sliced and fried for 5-10 minutes or so along with the mushrooms.

Smoked salmon with cream and pasta (serves 2)

4 oz (approx 100 g) pasta
0.5 oz (approx 10 g) butter
3 oz (approx 75 g) mushrooms
4 oz (approx 100 g) smoked salmon
5 fl. oz (approx 140 ml) single cream
Fresh oregano (or herbs of your choice)

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the instructions on the packet. Most shapes of pasta will work in this dish – spaghetti, tagliatelle, macaroni or the various pretty shapes such as shells, bows, twists etc.

Flake or chop the smoked salmon into small pieces. Chop the herbs.

Peel and slice the mushrooms.

Fry the mushrooms in the butter over a low to medium heat for 5 minutes or so until softened and starting to colour.

Pour in the single cream, then stir in the chopped salmon and chopped herbs. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes or so until the cream bubbles.

Stir in the drained pasta.

Serve immediately with a green vegetable or salad of your choice.