Creamy Pappardelle with Smoked Salmon&Prawns

Cheers to yet another PASTA FRIDAY! :D

I’ll have to admit, I am a sucker for white creamy pasta sauces, who else is with me? :D If there is a similar pasta dish on the menu be sure I will order it, just can’t help myself. I’ve been making this particular recipe for years now, it always works and everyone is licking their plates afterwards, trust me. If you are not a fan of creamy sauces you can still follow the recipe, just skip the cream and you will still end up with a lovely lemony sauce. The timing here is everything, you want to have all the ingredients prepped/chopped before you start cooking and your sauce should be done at the same time as the pasta! In total that’s around 10min depending on your pasta choice.

Ingredients (2 people)

200g pappardelle
150-200g prawns (already peeled or whole or mix both like I did)
100g smoked salmon
60ml white wine
80-100ml double cream
3tbsp olive oil
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
Flat leaf parsley chopped
One fresh rosemary sprig (optional)
Some pasta water
Salt and pepper

-> more olive oil, lemon and parmesan for serving! This is optional of course :)
-> to make this sauce even thicker and well, more nutritious :D, grate one courgette to the sauce at the same time when adding prawns to your pan!

Method

Make sure to prep/measure/chop all the ingredients before you start cooking, time management is everything when cooking a pasta dish!
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packaging, don’t forget to add salt to the water. I like my pasta really al dente so I will cook it for 2min less than it says on the packaging since you will transfer the pasta with some cooking water to the sauce and finish it there for an additional minute or two.
As soon as the pasta starts to cook start making the sauce. Heat 3tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add chopped garlic and saute it for a minute. Pour over the wine and let it simmer for additional 1-2min. Now you can add raw prawns, parsley and cook them until pink, for approx 2min. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and cream and let it simmer for additional 2min. Be careful with salt since smoked salmon is also very salty on its own.
At the very end add cooked pasta with a splash of pasta water (never rinse your pasta with cold water) and slices of smoked salmon. Simmer over medium heat for 2min or until you are happy with a consistency of the sauce.Plate it immediately, with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh parsley and freshly shaved parmesan!