Recipe: Fettucine With Lemony Asparagus & Salmon Sauce

This is another great recipe to use with fresh, home-made pasta. Fettucine is one of the easiest pastas to make at home - with or without a pasta machine. This simple recipe combines fresh asparagus with lemon and salmon, for a light-tasting but hearty meal with lots of flavor.

Fettucine With Lemony Asparagus And Salmon Sauce
(Serves 4-6.)

Ingredients:

Fresh fettucine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 lb. pkg uncooked fettuccine
1 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut with angle into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 lemon zested and juiced, in separate bowls
1 cup light cream
1 lemon cut into thin wedges
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 skinless wild-caught salmon fillet, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Directions:

• Bring a large pot of water to boiling and add 2 teaspoons salt, then add fettuccine, bring back to a boil, reduce heat and cook 3 minutes less than time directed on package, then add asparagus and cook 2 more minutes; Put colander in large bowl and drain spaghetti/asparagus through colander, reserving liquid; set aside.
• Into small bowl, put the lemon zest, add the cream, stirring to combine.
• Into another small bowl, squeeze the lemon juice.
• In the pot spaghetti was cooked in, add oil and salmon pieces, cooking over medium heat until salmon just turns opaque, about 4 or 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add to the pot with salmon the pasta/asparagus, cream/zest mixture, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
• Over medium heat, cook a couple more minutes, until pasta is tender, but still al dente.
• If mixture seems too dry, ladle in a bit of the reserved pasta water, stir until sauce coats the pasta well, but doesn't get watery. Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese and toss.
• Serve hot in pasta bowls with lemon wedges and more Parmesan cheese if desired.

Tips for Making Pasta At Home

Have you ever had pasta at a restaurant and thought; “Is this what pasta is supposed to be like? It's so tender and light. It's so good!”  You don't have to go to a restaurant every time you want good pasta.  You can have the same experience in your own kitchen.  All it takes is some time and a few simple ingredients and you can create pasta that is far superior to anything you will ever buy in a box.

Home made pasta. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I can almost feel your panic right now, but you needn't be afraid.  Before you run and hide, vowing never to try making your own pasta, let's examine the truth about making pasta at home. Then you can decide for yourself if you want to try your hand at making pasta at home, or continue giving that restaurant your money.

The Benefits of Home-made Pasta

The ingredients used to make pasta are very inexpensive. Some oil, salt, water, flour, and eggs are about all you need to make a fantastic basic pasta. You can tweak the ingredients that you use to make your pasta taste exactly how you like it. Experiment with different flavors and fillings and come up with your own signature pastas, perhaps varieties you will never find in your typical grocery store. Another benefit you may not have thought of is that homemade pasta has a better ability to hold sauce. Yes, sauce does stick better to homemade pasta.

Time is Money

While making your own pasta at home can be less expensive than buying a box of pasta at the store, there is a time-money trade off to consider. To make simple egg noodles, it takes about forty-five minutes to create from scratch. The more difficult the pasta creations get, your time can actually creep up to about an hour and a half. While it may be a little cheaper to make your own pasta, you may find that it's not cheap enough to justify spending an hour or more on it. In other words, the cost savings don't amount to enough of a reason to make pasta at home, especially the more complicated your pasta becomes. So, make pasta at home for the superior taste and the fun, not the money savings.

Pasta making (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How Hard Can it Be... Really

Making pasta isn't hard, but it does take time and patience. The most difficult part of making your own pasta is the kneading and the rolling. That is, unless you own a stand-mixer and a pasta rolling machine. With these appliances, making your own pasta becomes a lot easier. If you don't have either of these machines, figure about ten to fifteen minutes for kneading the dough and another fifteen for rolling the dough out until it's thin enough to cut. That process may be alright in the beginning, but once you're hooked on homemade pasta, you'll want to give your hands, arms, shoulders, and back a rest by investing in the right tools.

Best Bang for Your Buck

Of course, having a pasta machine would make life easier if you plan to make your own pasta at home. When considering which machine to buy, take a hint from the restaurant business and check out the brands they use. Most manufacturers will make home pasta machines as well as industrial styles.  I suggest avoiding the all-in-one machines for your home kitchen. Instead, make the dough separately and buy a machine that will help you roll out and cut the pasta. But, you can always go with a good old rolling pin if you decide to stick with the cheapest method, and it will get easier and faster with time.

Making your own pasta will give you a far better end product, there is no doubt about that.  The packaged pasta just doesn't hold a candle.  Sure, making pasta at home may take time and a bit of practice, but once you crank out those first noodles and cook them up, the feeling of satisfaction, not to mention the taste, is well worth the effort.