- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound farfalle (or penne)
- 10 ounces baked (or smoked) salmon, cut into small pieces
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Vodka or white wine
- 1 cup tomato puree
- Salt and pepper, to taste
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Find OutInstructions
- Over medium heat, sauté onion in a large skillet with the olive oil and butter. When the onion is translucent, add the salmon and cook over a medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the vodka and cook for a a few more minutes. Add the tomato puree, and cook for additional 10 minutes, until the liquid has partially evaporated. Add the cream and cook for about 5 additional minutes, until the cream has slightly reduced. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, and add to the salmon mixture.
- Mix well and serve immediately.

Ed's Review
According to leading dermatologists (well maybe one, in New York), salmon makes your skin look younger. And according to leading neuroscientists, it makes your brain function better. And according to me, it tastes great with pasta. Looks, brains, and taste, what more could you ask for?
Of course, the foregoing makes this dish more popular on the Upper East Side than in Rome, but it's still relatively Italian enough to try. Its relative obscurity in Italy also makes it difficult to find consensus on exactly how to prepare it: with or without cream, with or without onion, with or without vodka or brandy or wine, with or without lemon, and with or without tomato. For some unknown reason, however, farfalle (and less frequently penne) seems to be the standard pasta pairing.
And please, even in NYC, no cheese!
Buon Appetito!
Ed Garrubbo
Great recipe! Do you have a preference for the smoked or baked salmon? Offhand, I think a fresh piece of salmon, baked, might create a more delicious dish. But I would love to hear Guru Garrubbo’s own opinion about it.
Grazie!
Andrea
Maybe this will teach me to like salmon.
Thank you for all the history lessons while we eat..
Sincerely,
One of your loyal fans,
Rosalie