Smoked Salmon Carbonara

On Saturday night, we had smoked salmon soft tacos. Amazingly, we had some leftovers. While paging through my cookbooks, I came across, this recipe for carbonara, which the author claims is the “only recipe you need.” I'm sure she herself doesn't even believe this. If she did, she probably wouldn't need to have umpteen TV shows and a gazillion cookbooks. Anyhow, I put two and two together for a dinner that was quick, easy, and delish. Best of all, you get creamy richness without cream and its accompanying discomfort. This is another dish that rejects the “no cheese with fish” dictum. That also adds to its appeal.

1 lb orecchiette, but any chunky or long pasta would probably be great in this.

¼ lb smoked salmon, chopped

2 eggs

1 tsp. mustard

2 green onions, chopped

Handful chopped parsley

Handful grape tomatoes, quartered

1 tbsp. capers, rinsed and chopped

sprinkle of hot pepper flakes

¼ cup Locatelli cheese

Salt

Pepper

½ cup pasta cooking water

Cook pasta in salted water for about 1 minute or so less than package directions. Mid-way through the cooking time, scoop out about ½ cup of the cooking water.

While the pasta cooks, beat the 2 eggs, mustard, cheese, salt, pepper, capers, hot pepper flakes, and some of the parsley and chopped green onions together. Keep some of the parsley and onions aside with the tomatoes and salmon. These will be added right before serving for some freshness.

Temper the egg mixture by mixing in a bit of the hot pasta cooking water. Add a bit at a time until you have added about 2 tablespoons. Save any remaining water. You may need it later.

When the pasta is finished, drain it. Avoid the urge to combine the egg mixture and the pasta in one fell swoop. The eggs will scramble. This is not what we’re wanting here. We’re going for creamy goodness. A gentle touch is required, so add ¼ cup of the pasta to the egg mixture and combine. Repeat with another ¼ cup of pasta. Now, it’s probably safe to add the egg and pasta mixture back to the larger quantity of pasta in the cooking pot. Toss in the tomatoes, smoked salmon, and the parsley and green onion you’d set aside.

Put the pot over low heat and stir. If it seems dry, add more pasta cooking water everything is silky and yummy-looking. Heat through gently. It does seem a shame to ruin the luxurious texture of smoked salmon by subjecting it to even the lowest heat setting, but I think the overall tastiness of this dish makes up for that.

Top each bowl with a sprinkling of cheese, and freshly-ground black pepper. If you have a bit of parsley and green onion still, that’d be nice, too. Pretty darn good, especially when you consider that I was feeling migrainy about an hour before creating and cooking this.

I reheated leftovers (I know; leftovers of leftovers, but big whoop.) gently (microwave – 50% power for 2 minutes, stir, then 50% for another minute) for lunch today. The smell was exactly like Lean Cuisine Chicken Carbonara, which I used to love. I hope we can still be friends.

-Elena