I now present to you.. the greatest use of leftover salmon from the night before! Wow, how intense. This pasta is my

The “mile-long menu” restaurant in Torino was right down this festive street.

version of a classic Italian dish, commonly used with penne pasta and cream.

Around Italy, you will find many small Trattorie and Osterie that cater to the needs of workers looking for a cheap lunch. These small restaurants commonly offer three course meals for as little as 7 euro. My family and I took full advantage of these deals throughout last year, and while living in Torino, we discovered one near our apartment that served this salmon pasta dish. We called this restaurant the one with a “mile-long menu”. One thing I’ve noticed is that while these “long-menu” places can be good, they are never exceptional, or at the level of fine-dining restaraunts with smaller menus. So I got the salmon pasta, and I was disappointed. It was your average penne with salmon and loads of cream. They overdid it on the cream, and there was no other flavor to accommodate the fish. So I felt like I could improve on their dish, and that’s what I did here.

I use less cream than most Italians would, including my dad,  just because I am not a huge fan of the combination of cream and pasta. I feel like my ratio for the pasta’s sauce is an improvement to the traditional dish, but you may add some more cream if you feel it lacks it. The real kicker is the dill, that compliments the salmon so well. My dad, along with many other Italians, normally use prezzemolo (parsley), but I feel like dill is even more exciting. Many salmon dishes, and sauces to place atop certain fish dishes, call for dill, so I thought it would fit nicely in my salmon pasta.

Salmon and Dill Pasta

• 16 oz of Pasta (a short pasta, like penne)
• Filet of Baked Salmon
• Heavy Cream (about 4 tbsp.)
• Olive Oil
• Dill
• Salt and Pepper

Over high heat, boil a large pot of salted water. When cooking pasta, salt is key. Be sure to hand numerous handfuls of the sea’s seasoning.

Cut the filet of salmon up into little pieces, almost mashed, and place them on a pan coated with olive oil. Add 4 tbsp. of heavy cream (you can add some more if you like it creamier) and let that simmer over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes.

Finely chop a bundle of dill and place it in the sauce. Turn off the sauce.

The sauce not mixed.

The sauce mixed, with the cream incorporated.

Throw the pasta in the boiling water and cook according to the package’s instructions. You want the pasta nice and aldente. 

I used “strozzapreti” pasta. The translation to english is “choked preist”. It may be difficult to find in stores.

Right before the pasta is done cooking, begin to heat up the sauce again. Once the pasta is done, turn off the sauce as well and combine the two.

Tutti a tavola!

Season with extra salt and some freshly cracked pepper, and buon appetito!