Creamy Herb Sauce with Pasta and Salmon

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Fresh herbs are amazing.  A-mazing.

 

I’ve been putting Thai Basil in my drinking water lately, just leaving it in the glass and refilling to let it mildly steep throughout the day.  It’s such a refreshing beverage that my curiosity was aroused of the medicinal properties of basil, so off to ask the Wizard of Google with this question I went .

 

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Anti-inflammatory and anti-depressant—and these are just are just a few of its superpowers!

I then looked up all the herbs growing in my garden: Tarragon, Chives, Oregano, Basil of course, Thyme, Rosemary Parsley, and Sage.  I already knew about some of them—that thyme and oregano had amazing disinfectant properties and are great for warding off colds—but all of them are stacked.  There are so many powerhouse nutrients concentrated in these herbs that I felt compelled to run right out and pick them all, and while I was out there thinned a small leek to make space for the others .

 

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An all-star herb-pesto was a dinner possibility to blast myself with their cleansing components, but I didn’t feel like running a loud food processor on a hot afternoon.  Instead I went for little chops and chiffonades into a butter-and-cream sauce that I’ve often made in the past.  I don’t always use this many fresh herbs together but they get along fine.  If I have salmon I add it to the sauce or on the pasta, and fortunately I had a little frozen Norwegian salmon left from the Faroe Island Dinner hosted by my friend Dennis last fall.

 

GF Linguine is usually my pasta of choice for this dish but all I had in the cupboard was Fusilli so I went with the path of least resistance.

 

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A perfect Elisabeth Maurland plate for salmon and pasta!

 

 

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Creamy Herb Sauce with Pasta and Salmon

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

 

Cook 1/2 – 3/4 pounds of salmon in your favorite way—brush with olive oil, salt and pepper, then either grill, bake, or lightly sauté with butter. 

 

Cook 1/2 pound Linguine or pasta of your choice while making the cream sauce.  

 

Creamy Herb Sauce

Melt in a sauté pan on medium heat:

2 Tablespoons Butter

Add:

1 small Leek

Cook the leeks for a few minutes, then add 3/4  to 1 cup of fresh herbs—whatever you have:

2-3 Tablespoons Fresh Oregano, chopped

2-3 Tablespoons Fresh Basil, Fresh, chopped

2-3 Tablespoons Chives, chopped

2-3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons Fresh Tarragon, chopped

2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme, chopped

1 Tablespoon Fresh Sage, chopped

Heat in the butter for about a minute then deglaze with:

3 Tablespoons White Wine

Add:

3/4 cup Heavy Cream

1 Tablespoon Capers

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt (or more, to taste)

Freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg

Simmer until the cream begins to bubble and slightly thicken.   Remove from heat. 

Taste and adjust. 

Either add crumbled pieces of the cooked salmon to the herb cream sauce, or plate up the pasta with the salmon on top and spoon the cream sauce over both.  

When serving, top with:

Fresh Lemon

Parmesan Cheese

Makes 3-4 servings. 

 

Other possible additions:

  • Walnuts
  • Rosemary
  • Blue Cheese

 

 

 

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