TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: A quick, Italian-inspired pasta dish featuring farfalle tossed in a silky tomato cream sauce with fresh salmon fillets, garlic, and fragrant basil.
- Why you’ll love it: It is an elegant, weeknight-friendly meal ready in 20 minutes. The rich cream balances the bright acidity of fresh tomatoes and savory salmon.
- How to make it: Boil the pasta. Sauté garlic, red pepper flakes, and tomatoes until the liquid evaporates. Add the salmon, cream, and basil to the skillet and cook until the sauce thickens. Toss the cooked farfalle with the sauce and serve.
This farfalle with fresh salmon proves that although it isn’t a native Italian fish, and one rarely sees it on restaurant menus, its rich flavor makes for a great pasta sauce. This straightforward farfalle recipe brings out its flavor. If salmon were popular in Italy, this is probably how it would be prepared.
Farfalle with Fresh Salmon
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 3/4 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- Salt
- 1/2 pound salmon fillet, skinned* (see Note below)
- 1 pound farfalle, (penne or fusilli are also good)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 to 8 basil leaves
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with about 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil.
- Pour the oil in a 12-inch skillet, add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and place over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is sizzling. Add the tomatoes, season with salt, and cook until the tomatoes release their liquid and it evaporates, 10 to 12 minutes.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, cut the salmon into strips about 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long.
- When the tomato liquid has evaporated, add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water and then add the farfalle. Stir well and cook until al dente.
- While the farfalle is cooking, add the salmon to the tomatoes, season with salt, and add the cream. Coarsely chop or rip the basil and add it to the skillet. Cook until the cream has thickened and reduced by about 1/3, 2 to 3 minutes.
- When the farfalle is done, drain well, toss it with the salmon sauce, and serve at once.
Notes
*What You Need To Know About How To Rid Salmon Of Its Skin
To rid the salmon of its slippery skin, you can ask your fishmonger to do it. But sometimes they forget–or pretend not to hear you. If this happens, grab a paper towel in 1 hand and a sharp chef’s knife in the other. Place the fillet, skin side down, on a work surface. Grasp one edge in one hand, using the paper towel to provide traction between your fingers and the skin. In your other hand, grasp the knife and make a gash in the fillet about 1/4 inch from the edge of the fillet. The gash should cut through flesh and go almost but not quite all the way through the skin. Scooch the knife blade between the flesh and the skin, angling it about 45 degrees, and slide the blade along the length of the fillet, pressing gently. The fish should fall away in a neat, skinless fillet.Explore More with AI
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Did you know only 68% of the recipes we test make it onto the site? This recipe survived our rigorous blind testing process by multiple home cooks. It earned the Leite’s Culinaria stamp of approval—and the testers’ reviews below prove it.
This is a very straightforward pasta recipe that was easy to prepare and ready in under 30 minutes, just as stated in the cookbook title. Even with the cream, the sauce was light and delicious. Adding the salmon imparted a wonderful flavor and also boosted the nutritional value of the dish.
Amazing pasta dish—lots of flavor, not too rich. easy to make. I made this with fresh wild-caught Alaska salmon (the best IMHO) and fresh summer tomatoes. When there are so few ingredients, I think this recipe benefits from using the freshest and the best. Will definitely make this again.
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Very good, easy to make changes with what is in the house since I’m staying in.
CarlinBreinig, excellent!!