Freshwater Feasts

By El Lower, Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System (GLANSIS) research associate

It’s a rare occasion when you find yourself with too much smoked salmon on hand that needs to be used up, but these things can happen around holidays or after hosting events with friends and family! Here’s a simple but delicious riff on an old classic, penne alla vodka, that transforms leftover smoked salmon into a creamy, smoky pasta dish. While this recipe was developed to use up cold-smoked salmon like lox, other kinds of smoked Great Lakes fish would work well here too, if you happen to have some smoked trout or even smoked whitefish in your refrigerator!

Smoked salmon pasta alla vodka

Ingredients:

• 1 box of penne (or other short, shaped pasta)
• 1 8 oz package of smoked salmon, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp concentrated tomato paste
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 shots vodka
• Finely minced chives, to garnish

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of salted water and cook penne to ‘al dente’ according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add garlic and saute until the garlic shows a hint of golden color.
3. Add the tomato paste and allow it to fry for one minute, then add the vodka and stir to deglaze the pan.
4. Next, add the heavy cream, stir to mix, and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
5. Add the salmon and allow to cook for one minute, then add the cooked, drained pasta to the vodka sauce and mix. If the sauce is too thick, add a little reserved pasta water to thin it and help it stick to the noodles.
6. Ladle generously into bowls and top with minced chives.