Wood-fired!

My little black dress

April 13th, 2008

Melissa from The Traveler’s Lunchbox posted her version of smoked-salmon pasta that she calls The Little Black Dress of Dinner due to its versatility. This prompted me to put forward my variation of this great dish.

My “little black dress” is simpler and uses salmon saithes rather than slices. Saithes are effectively offcuts that do not have the elegant texture of good quality smoked salmon but have a much more intense flavour and are preserved in a light oil that also takes on a vibrant salmon flavour. The oil coats the pasta in flavour, moistness and the stunning pastel orange/pink of salmon.

When I can get them both, I use a mix of the packet type shown and a variety that is sold in a jar. The style shown still has smoked salmon texture and plenty of oil. The jar variety (I’ll post a photo when I next get one) is cut much finer but has a stronger taste both in the flesh and the oil. I find mixing the two gives the best balance of flavour and texture.

I always use fresh-made pasta for this dish. The elegance and subtlety of flavour demands a soft pliant pasta. I cut the pasta into tagliatelle size. The pasta is drained while the saithe oils are warmed in the pasta pan. The pasta is returned so that it can be well coated with the oils before the more delicate saithes are added. A bonus is that the amount of cream can be widely adjusted to taste without undermining the effect of the dish. I suspect you could get away with no cream at all if you really wanted to avoid it - perhaps add a fraction of the pasta cooking liquor back into the dish to create some creaminess. Otherwise it works well with just a tablespoon or two of cream but can take a whole container if you really like your cream.

Be careful with seasoning. The saithes can be quite salty so I use a minimum of salt in the pasta and cooking water and adjust as required at the end.

In my home this dish is always known as Salmon Rushdie.

Here is my recipe as it was published in The Canberra Times about 3 years ago (in Jenna Price’s Domestic God series on blokes who cook).

Tagliatelle with smoked salmon and cream (Salmon Rushdie)
fresh tagliatelle
1 x 100g tin or packet of smoked salmon saithe slices in oil
1 x 125g jar of smoked salmon saithe cuttings in oil
100-200ml cream
freshly ground black pepper
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Jars and packets of salmon saithes are often available in delicatessens (try Belconnen Markets if you can’t find them). These are preferable to smoked salmon as they contain oils that help flavour and colour the pasta. I use one packet and one jar to get both textures but you could use just one variety.
Either make your own fresh pasta or buy quality recently dried tagliatelle. Boil this in plenty of water - very lightly salted.
While the pasta is cooking open the container of saithe slices being careful not to lose any oil. Remove the saithe slices to your chopping board allowing most of the oil to drain back into the packet. Slice the saithes crossways into small (2cm) pieces.
Drain pasta when al dente (about 4-8mins if fresh). Return the pan to a low heat and add all the saithe oil. Add the jar of saithe cuttings. Once the oil has warmed through, throw in the drained pasta and toss gently. As you toss the pasta it should take on a slight pinkness as it absorbs the oil. Throw in the saithe pieces and add coarsely ground black pepper. Toss until all the pasta is pinkish and well covered in oil. Add as much cream as you wish to moisten the dish. I usually add 100-200ml. Be careful with the salt balance. The saithes vary in saltiness so it is best to keep salt to a minimum and adjust at the end.
Serve immediately with a small garnish of basil tips or other green herb. Reheats well for the next two days.
Pasta: Add a small amount of salt to 200g plain flour and break in 2 large or 3 small eggs. Mix with a fork and then by hand adding more flour until you have quite a stiff dough. Roll out in a pasta machine and cut as tagliatelle.

This gorgeous dish will always be in my top five favourites. It certainly belongs to that group of special meals that is nowadays known as ‘comfort food’.

As Melissa says ‘Recipes like this are, unfortunately, all too rare’. Even with making the fresh pasta the whole dish can be prepared in 15mins. If you keep a few jars/packets of saithes in the fridge it can be made at any time. And it is always a hit. A true little black dress. (Like Melissa I don’t have the real thing.)

Entry Filed under: Food