Creamy veggie-lemon pasta with salmon

Apr 21 Written by

Ladies and gentlemen - it has happened. After long Instagram admiration and countless recipe re-pins on Pinterest, I have finally gone and gotten myself a spiralizer (specifically, the GEFU Spirelli)! This can only mean one thing: SPIRALIZE ALL THE THINGS! Courgetti galore! However, I happen to live with a very meat-loving Danish boyfriend, who is not at all as excited as I am about the general idea of “green stuff”, let alone vegetable noodles - why unnecessarily up the daily intake of healthy stuff when you could just as well eat delicious “real” pasta, he asks. But I’m nothing if not persistent, so I went and made this dinner for us one day recently. I have made similar pasta dishes with regular, wheat pasta before, so I thought I could sneak one by him and secretly mix in some veggies without him noticing. And, what do you know, his exact words were: “I didn’t think this would be super awesome with all the green stuff, but this is actually really good!” For me, that’s the ultimate seal of approval. Whoop!

Instead of going in full-on courgetti, I mixed them with a pack of veggie pasta - it’s called “grøntsagsbånd”, from Pastella, and you can buy it in most supermarkets (even Netto has them). They are made with 40% vegetables, so that’s a good way to add some more veggies to your dinner as well. If you can’t get your hands on these, I’d substitute some fresh tagliatelle.

I also really like creamy sauces, but often find heavy cream too, well, heavy! So I mostly use Rama’s Cremefine, which I find gives the same results in terms of taste and creaminess, but feels much lighter - and has fewer calories! All in all, this pasta dish is full of fresh aromas, with a bit of lemony zing, and the white wine adds a nice depth to the flavor mix.

For this post, I’ve teamed up with my good friend from Les Grand Chais de France, a French wine producer. They were the ones that invited me to the private wine tasting a couple of weeks ago. They import French wines to Danish restaurants, stores, and also supermarkets such as Irma, Føtex, or Kvickly. Together with her, I’ve picked out a great wine to both be used in and to be enjoyed alongside this dish. The best part is that you can buy it at your local supermarket at a really fair price - see the wine recommendation below!

 

Veggie and salmon pasta in lemon cream sauce

(serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main)

250g salmon (2 fillets, frozen or raw)

250g (1 package) grøntsagsbånd pasta

1 medium courgette

1 cup shredded carrots

250ml Rama Cremefine 7%

100ml white wine (see wine recommendation below)

juice of 1 lemon

Cut the salmon into small pieces. In a big pan, heat a bit of oil or butter and add the salmon, frying for a couple of minutes until cooked. Add salt and pepper. When the salmon is cooked, at the white wine and lemon juice and let simmer for a bit. In the meantime, using a spiralizer, cut the courgette into spaghetti-like strings. In a separate pot, bring some water to a boil, add some salt, and cook the vegetable pasta for one minute, as per instructions. Add shredded carrots and courgetti to the pan and let simmer for a little longer (3-4 minutes). Just before serving, add the vegetable pasta and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Wine recommendation:

You’ll be needing some wine for cooking, so seeing as you already have a bottle open - why not enjoy a glass alongside this dish for a lovely spring dinner, maybe even outside in the garden or on the balcony? My friend Annai from Les Grands Chais de France recommends the 2014 Domaine de la Baume Viognier (more). It matures on the lees for three weeks, giving it a nice volume and a buttery flavor, which goes nicely with a more fatty fish like salmon. It has notes of apricots and white peach, giving a balance to the lemon. I really like this wine, both on its own and with this dish. You can find it at Kvickly for around DKK 70.

 

This post contains affiliate links. The wine for this post was kindly provided by Les Grands Chais de France, Denmark. I have received no other compensation for this post. As per usual, all opinions expressed are my own. 

Quick and tasty weeknight dinner: Risotto with baked salmon and sautéed green asparagus

Feb 28 Written by

It’s been a while since I posted a savory recipe, and this is one of my favorites, so there we go! It’s quick (takes about 30mins to make), it’s easy, it requires no more than 8 ingredients, and you don’t need to feel bad after enjoying it, because it has healthy salmon and fresh green asparagus. I’ve also made this for guests before, who have really enjoyed it.

 

Risotto with baked salmon and sautéed green asparagus

(for 2 persons)

2 salmon filets (100g each)

250g fresh green asparagus

150g risotto rice

600ml vegetable broth

100ml dry white wine (I usually use Sauvignon Blanc, but a Pinot Gris works well, too)

1 shallot or small onion

50g grated parmesan cheese

1 lemon

Risotto

This is my “basic” risotto. It’s great on its own, but easily expanded, for example mushrooms (I like using dried cèpes that I soak in some water for about an hour before cooking - the water can then also be used to add more taste to the risotto), peas (just throw in two handfuls of frozen peas in when the risotto is done - not before, as it will interrupt the cooking process! - and let simmer until the peas are done), or pumpkin in the fall. The possibilities are endless! But rest assured that this basic recipe is great on its own, too!

To make the risotto, chop the onion into small cubes. In the meantime, warm up the vegetable broth - it needs to be hot (not boiling) when you add it to the risotto, so the cooking process of the rice is not interrupted. Add some olive oil or butter to a large pan and add the onion cubes. After cooking them for a bit (turn down the heat a bit so they don’t turn brown), add the dry risotto rice and sear for a couple of seconds - this is to “pop open” the grains. Deglaze with the white wine and let simmer for a bit. Gradually keep adding the hot vegetable broth with a ladle, waiting until the rice has almost soaked up the fluid before adding more. Keep stirring slowly all the time. The risotto will need about 20mins until it’s cooked. Add the grated parmesan at the end to achieve a sticky texture.

Salmon

If there is an easier way to make salmon, I haven’t found it yet! Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees (Celsius). Grease a small baking dish and put the salmon filets in. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Squeeze the juice of half the lemon over the filets and bake for 20-25mins (if the salmon was frozen, it might need a couple more minutes). Done!

Sautéed green asparagus

Wash the asparagus and break off the hard ends. The easiest way to do this is to take each end of the asparagus stick in one hand and softly bend it, this way it will break exactly to remove the hard bottom part. In a frying pan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is warm, add the asparagus. Season with salt and squeeze the juice of the other half of the lemon over. Sautée in the pan for 2-3mins, while moving constantly. Don’t cook the asparagus for too long, you want it to have a nice bite to give a different texture to the soft risotto and tender salmon. Done!

Et voilá, in about half an hour, you have a great, satisfying meal that wasn’t too complicated to make. And since you already broke open that bottle of white wine, why not have a glass on the side? Enjoy!

Blog Pics

PS: I apologize for the not-so-perfect pictures. I will be learning how to style food for pictures when I’m attending The Hive - European Blogging Conference in May here in Copenhagen! Click on the picture to learn more. Looking forward to meeting a lot of great bloggers there, and learn a ton of useful stuff to make my blog more awesome!