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.
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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
Don’t know what I did but I seem to be the only one who couldn’t make it right! The cream curdled as soon as I put the lemon in. I threw away the first batch and tried again. Curdled again.
Cream should not curdle when you add lemon, Renee, I’m confused. Is it possible the cream was past it’s fresh date? And was it regular cream, not half and half?
try lower heat, mine curdled the first time (still taste okay, just looks ugly) and was delicious next time made on low heat. Hope it helps!
Really wonderful and easy dish. I’m making it again tonight for the second time. Wouldn’t change a thing! Thanks! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
made it! But, just slapped it together without measuring anything. Came out great! Will add this to list of keepers.
I’m totally a fan of slapping it together 🙂
I just made this with leftover grilled salmon, and it was delicious. However, I found that I had to use much more than the 1/3 cup liquid as published. I was using half and half, and just kept on adding more and more (I didn’t measure). I usually dislike leftover salmon, but I will most certainly use this recipe again.
There is always a little leeway in recopies to allow for variation for whatever reason, I’m glad you liked this Cory.
Oh I agree! My pasta must have been extra thirsty 🙂
I just made this! Just finished eating it about 5 minutes ago and had to leave a comment on how delightful it was. Creamy, yet light. Poached the salmon per the instructions. Only thing I left out was the zest. Either because I don’t have a zester or because I’m too lazy and just used bottled lemon juice…take your pick. Very good, though! I’ll be making again.
Yay, Sue!! Made this tonight with leftover salmon that had a little balsamic glaze on it, and it was great! Used half & half instead of heavy cream and added (at Jenna’s suggestion) dill! FABulous! Keep ’em coming! xo
Thanks so much for the feedback Tammy — I’m interested that you used half and half, I would love to do that, but I was afraid that the lemon would curdle it, so I guess I’m going to try it that way next time!
This sounds great. How many people do you think it serves as a main course – assuming there is also a salad? I have to make a light lunch for 50 people – don’t want it to be too expensive – and thought this would work. Is it ok to serve an hour later room temperature? Or does the cream sauce get thick and yucky at room temp? thanks!
As the recipe is written, it would serve about four, I just added that to the post, thanks, Louise. I allow about 1/8 lb of salmon per person. Not sure about the room temperature…if you could have it in chafing dishes that might be better, but as long as you don’t refrigerate the pasta, the sauce should be ok for an hour.
Anyone tried this with plain unsweetened almond milk in place of heavy cream?
Nice and easy! What more do you want? 😉
I am so partial to farfalle. I think those bow ties just taste better because they are so cute. Love this dish, Sue! Lemon, salmon, peas and cream. One just can’t go wrong!