This Farfalle with Salmon, Lemon, and Peas is a deliciously easy pasta recipe with chunks of tender salmon, and garden peas in a creamy lemon sauce!
Farfalle with salmon is a quick weeknight dinner
It’s an old family favorite, I’m not sure why I’ve never posted it here before. The dinner comes together in the time it takes the pasta to cook, and the flavor is wonderfully lemony. The whole family loves salmon, and this is one way to make a half a pound stretch to feed four. This is also a kid pleaser and a great way to introduce fish to picky eaters…my girls grew up loving ‘pink fish’, and this has been one of their most requested meals over the years.
The ingredient list is short:
- farfalle ~ butterfly or bow tie pasta ~ we like it because it stays firm and has a nice chew.
- salmon ~ can be freshly made or leftover.
- peas ~ we use frozen.
- cream ~ cream makes this dish special.
- lemon ~ the juice and zest gives tons of citrus flavor to the sauce.
- Parmesan cheese ~ other aged cheese like Asiago or Romano would work.
A little salt and pepper is all you need to finish off a wonderful family meal that is hearty but manages to be light and bright at the same time. You can thank the fresh lemon juice and zest for that.
This easy salmon pasta has restaurant quality flavor
I think it’s the heavy cream that’s responsible, which also means that this is not low calorie dish. But the cream does so many good things for this pasta, I think, once you taste it, you’ll agree the calories are worth it. For one thing the cream allows you to add as much lemon as you need to get great lemony flavor. With anything short of heavy cream, the sauce can curdle with the addition of the acidic citrus juice.
Use fresh or leftover salmon for this creamy pasta recipe
I usually buy a small piece and poach it especially for this dish. I put the fish in a saucepan and add water, almost to cover. I bring it to a boil, then cover tightly and turn off the heat. The salmon cooks to perfection in about 10 minutes. I drain it, remove any skin, and gently break it apart with clean hands. The fish flakes naturally into large pieces which retain their integrity in the sauce. You want to be able to see and taste that beautiful salmon, so don’t break it up too much.
Why farfalle?
Farfalle is the perfect pasta shape for this, it retains a bite, and the lemony cream sauce nestles in the crevices of the bow. I think pasta shapes like this are so much better for creamy sauces, everything just mixes together better and doesn’t clump like strand pasta can.
More crave-able pasta recipes
Farfalle with Salmon, Lemon and Peas
Ingredients
- 2 good rounded cups farfalle pasta, uncooked
- 1/2 lb salmon fillet or leftover cooked salmon
- juice and zest of 1 large or 2 small lemons
- 1 cup frozen peas, no need to defrost
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese or more to taste
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- If your salmon is not cooked, place it in a saucepan and almost cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then cover tightly and remove from the heat. Let it poach for 10 minutes. Drain and remove the skin, then gently pull the fish into large flakes with clean hands. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta to just al dente. I usually cook it a couple of minutes LESS than the package tells me to, this way the pasta retains some bite. Drain, but reserve a cup of the water.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the cream in a large saute pan. Add the frozen peas, the flaked salmon, the lemon juice, zest, and the salt and pepper to taste and heat everything through. Add the cooked pasta and a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Mix everything well and make sure the sauce is good and hot. Take the time to give it a taste, and adjust the salt and pepper, and maybe add more lemon or cheese if it needs it. Note: use a bit of the reserved pasta water if the sauce seems too thick.
- Serve asap with extra cheese on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Lovely recipe! We really enjoyed it. So light and tasty! Only needed half of a large lemon. Thanks so much for a great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it Harriet, it’s a regular in our house 🙂
Made this tonight with some poached salmon and it is delicious! I added a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning to add a bit of flavor! Thank you for a great recipe!!