7/09/2009

More "Fast Food": Pan-seared Salmon with Lemon Herb Pasta

As dinnertime rolled around today, I was hungry and a little short on time. This is a light and tasty dinner you can whip up in 15 minutes flat. No joke.

If you've got the patience to, brown the butter before adding it to the pasta. All you do is cook it in a pan until it turns caramel-y brown (be careful not to burn it at this point). This transforms it from golden mellowness to a nutty amber liquid, which gives an extra flavour boost to the simple pasta "sauce."

Pan-seared Salmon with Lemon Herb Pasta:

The most time consuming part of this is waiting for the pasta water to boil. Make sure you salt it well. Apparently, Italians say to salt pasta water until it "tastes like the sea."

Once the pasta is boiling, add a little oil to a frying pan and add a clove of minced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Season both sides of the salmon with salt and pepper and pan fry it 3-4 minutes a side. Add lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice when it is nearly cooked through.

Drain the cooked pasta and toss with butter, lemon zest and juice, grated parmesan cheese, and finely chopped herbs (I used parsley and green onion here. Chives would be nice too!) and season with salt and pepper. Serve alongside the salmon.

Chow down.

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