Pasta with Smoked Salmon & Caramelized Onions

I smoke my salmon carcasses and pick the meat. To put it in perspective, two 15# salmon yields 1.5 pounds of smoked salmon enough for 2-3 meals for 4 people. Always looking for ways to use it since it is in small pieces. Karen and I had a good smoked salmon pasta in a restaurant in Monterey a couple of weeks ago and I recreated it. When you smoke the carcasses for this recipe, you want to take it out of the smoker when it is fairly moist, 3-4 hours in a Little Chief smoker. The fish is cooked in the sauce so and you don't need to dry it out too much. Be sure to go through the meat and check carefully for bones. If you are purchasing the salmon, get the thin sliced salmon. Caramelizing the onions takes some time but everything else is easy. Enjoy, Scott


Pasta with Smoked Salmon & Caramelized Onions
Great Bass 2

Ingredients (Serves 4)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 medium sweet onions, cut into ¼” slices/rings
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup dry white wine
½ - ¾ pound smoked salmon, thinly sliced, shredded
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
3 tablespoons capers, drained
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound linguine, cooked al dente, drained (reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water), and tossed with olive oil
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 Tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

Directions
Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot to medium low. Coat the bottom of the pot with 2 tablespoons olive oil and add the onions and sea salt. Cover the pot and stir the onions every 5-10 minutes, making sure the heat is low enough to not burn the onions or make them stick to the bottom of the pot. After about 20 minutes, remove the lid and allow the onions to continue cooking – continue to stir every 5-10 minutes – until the onions are light brown. The caramelizing process should take about 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the onions and reserve.

Turn the heat on the pot to medium high. Deglaze the pot with white wine scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan then add the smoked salmon. Cook until the salmon turns opaque, about 30 seconds Pour in the cream and add the capers, chili peppers flakes and caramelized onions. Turn the heat down to low-medium and bring to a slow boil for 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and toss to coat. If there doesn't appear to be enough sauce, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to thin it down. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle parsley and serve.

Thanks for sharing the recipe Scott.  I'll give it a try but that means I have to catch a Salmon first 

Sounds good thanks for sharing definitely gonna give this one a try...

awesome

first time I had pasta like that my fresh from Italy neighbor made it for me.  When I brought out the green Kraft can of cheese, his level of disgust was high.  Since then I can only go with freshly grated Parmigiano.

I will now always think of this recipe when checking my salmon gear .

I do a salmon spaghetti carbonara using blackened salmon, it also comes out really good and is very easy to make.

Definitely going to try this one that looks delicious.

Thanks for sharing Scott.  I have plenty of smoked salmon and was looking for something to do with it other than snacking and cream cheese salmon dip.  Your recipe looks delicious.