Fusilli with smoked salmon

Smoked salmon is good enough on its own. But in a creamy, white wine & parmesan sauce... heaven.

A comforting dish for a special night or a weekend treat.

Serves 2
- 200g fusilli
- 25g butter
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp white wine
- 150ml double cream
- squirt of lemon juice
- salt & pepper
- 50g parmesan, grated
- 120g smoked salmon
- garlic bread, to serve

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, and cook the fusilli according to packet instructions, around 15 minutes.

2. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the garlic and onion for a few minutes. Add the wine and bring to the boil, cooking for a further few minutes.

3. Pour in the cream, lemon juice, seasoning, and just over half of the parmesan, stirring over a low heat.

4. When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the pan with the sauce. Stir until the pasta is coated, then add the smoked salmon and mix well.

5. Heat through for a minute, then serve with some garlic bread, and sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top of the pasta.

Enjoy :)

You might also like to try my tuna spaghetti recipe!

Creamy fish pie

I made this a few months ago after wanting to try it for ages, since I'd never even had a fish pie before! It was just as good as i'd expected - creamy and smooth with a lot of flavour and delicious mashed potato with a crispy, cheesy layer. Perfect comfort food!

Serves 6

- 800g potatoes, peeled and chopped

- 25g butter (+ extra for potatoes)

- 25g plain flour

- 400ml milk (+ extra for potatoes)

- 100ml double cream

- around 600g fish - salmon, haddock and white fish (pollock or cod)

I bought Sainsbury's fish pie mix which is salmon, haddock and pollock ready skinned and cubed

- bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

- generous amount of cheddar cheese, grated

1. Boil the potatoes according to packet instructions.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, to make a smooth white sauce.

4. When thickened, stir in 75ml of the cream and season with salt and pepper. Mix in half the parsley.

5. Place the fish at the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Scatter over the remaining parsley then pour the white sauce on top.

6. When the potatoes are cooked and soft, mash them until smooth with butter, milk and the remaining cream.

7. Spread a layer of mashed potato on the top and fluff up with a fork.

8. Finish with a very generous layer of cheddar cheese and cook in the oven for 30 minutes (half covered with foil, half without) or until golden and the fish is cooked.

Enjoy :)

Lemon and parsley trout

There is really no attractive way to present cooked parsley... but don't let the picture put you off. I've posted this simple fish marinade before but with salmon, but I have recently discovered that I much prefer trout. It seems a lot more moist and I just generally prefer the flavour - it was also a bonus that the pack of two fillets was half price! This delicious, tangy marinade is great with fish so give it a try with three simple ingredients. Perfect served with vegetables and new potatoes, rice or even pasta.

Serves 2
- Two trout fillets
- knob of butter (about 25g)
- 1 lemon
- fresh parsley, chopped

1. Melt the butter in a dish, squeeze in as much of the lemon as you wish and stir in the parsley.
2. Rub the trout fillets in the marinade and leave in the fridge for 10-20 minutes.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and wrap the trout fillets in foil and place on a baking tray.
4. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until tender and flaky.

Enjoy :)

Lemon and parsley salmon

(Completely forgot to take a picture once cooked!)

This is a simple dressing/marinade for salmon that is guaranteed to produce wonderful flavours and moist fish. It's buttery and it's tangy mm mm. Perfect served with new potatoes also tossed in a buttery, lemon and parsley sauce.

- salmon fillet

- few knobs of butter

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- fresh lemon

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 degrees.

2. Simply place the salmon on foil, dot with the butter, sprinkle on the parsley, and squeeze over the lemon.

3. Wrap in the foil, place on a tray, and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Sea bass with tomato and herb risotto

This risotto can be eaten on its own or goes perfectly well with white fish, like sea bass, or chicken. There was a huge shock horror of not having any normal or risotto rice, but only basmati!! However, I used the basmati and after a long cooking time in lots of stock, it did seem to work - although next time I will use a risotto rice. This is really simple, with the rice you only need a few tomatoes, some fresh herbs (I used parsley), chicken or vegetable stock, parmesan and a dash of cream or mascarpone. We pan-fried the fish so the skin was deliciously crispy, complimenting the soft, creamy risotto perfectly. I added pesto on top of the fish and in the risotto, but if you don't like pesto then it isn't a necessity. I served the risotto on a bed of spinach, and we had broccoli and green beans too, so apart from the dash of cream and bit of parmesan, this is a fairly low-sat-fat meal. The perfect meal if you want to impress!

Serves 2

- dollop of butter/margarine

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 100g risotto rice

- 3/4 chicken or vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 250ml water

- handful cherry tomatoes, quartered

- large handful of parsley, finely chopped

- drizzle of olive oil

- 2 sea bass fillets

- handful of parmesan, grated

- dash of single cream or mascarpone or crème fraiche

- few teaspoons of green pesto

- handful of ready washed fresh spinach leaves

1. Fry the onions and garlic in the butter until softened. Stir in the rice (it should start to look translucent). Add the stock mixture and cook for around 20 mins, or until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft - you may need to add more water as you go along - keep stirring and testing the rice.

2. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the fish for a few minutes on each side, until the skin is crisp, and the fish is cooked through (cut open to check)

3. Add the cherry tomatoes and parsley to the risotto and stir until combined (you can do this before all the water is absorbed). Add the parmesan, some cream and pesto, and season to taste. Make sure all the liquids are reduced.

4. Place the risotto on a bed of spinach leaves and top with the sea bass. Garnish with some pesto, parmesan, fresh parsley, and a few cherry tomatoes!

Enjoy :)

Smoked salmon pitza

Try this for a flavoursome, light lunch! I called it a pitza as it's pizza style, but uses pitta bread instead. I made this for lunch today because I wanted something more exciting than just a boring smoked salmon sandwich. This is super simple and it looks and tastes great too; everyone knows smoked salmon and cream cheese is a match made in heaven! If you want this for dinner instead of lunch, then you could fry up some onions to add on top, make a big salad to go with it, and have two pitza's instead of just one! You're probably thinking ah but smoked salmon is so expensive - but it doesn't have to be! It tastes just as good when defrosted from the freezer, so look out for deals on smoked salmon (they often do really good quality packs for half price) and buy them even if you don't want to eat it asap. Or, if you're a student like me, then buying Tesco value smoked salmon trimmings is amazing! If I remember correctly it is only around 90p, and although there is the odd grey bit and fish bone, it really isn't bad at all. Trimmings are perfect for topping on pizza, adding to scrambled egg and salads etc.

Serves 1
- 1 large wholemeal pitta
- large dollop of cream cheese (I used Sainsbury's light soft cheese)
- sprinkling of mixed herbs
- smoked salmon, cut into strips
- cucumber, sliced

Spread the cream cheese on a toasted pitta, sprinkle on herbs and top with smoked salmon. Serve with cucumber.

Enjoy :)

Pan-fried sea bass with pesto spaghetti

I haven't had fish for ages and was really craving it last night; then realised that I hadn't ever posted a recipe that included fish on this blog! I love fish, particularly smoked salmon, tuna and any white fish. I rarely have sea bass but it is delicious and easy to work with. I won't take credit for the cooking of it, however, as my boyfriend was actually in charge of the fish frying! As said before in previous posts, I am a big fan of pasta and pesto, it is such a quick comfort food to whip up that isn't too unhealthy, and it tastes delicious. I decided to add some cherry tomatoes and mozzarella. Although this pasta is great on its own and is particularly suited to vegetarians, it also works perfectly with fish or chicken, or even cut up bits of bacon. So if you're thinking oh god i hate fish - then you don't have to use fish, you could grill some chicken or bread it and fry it to place on top, or fry it in chunks and mix it in. You can pretty much do anything with pasta and pesto - add more veg like onions, mushrooms, courgette, brocolli - anything you like, or experiment with adding different cheeses, or adding fresh herbs like basil. If you have ever had the pesto pasta at Zizzi's you will know it is great with a very creamy pesto sauce and green beans. This is a delicious 20-minute dinner!

Serves 2

- 200g spaghetti (or any other pasta)

- drizzle of olive oil

- 2 sea bass fillets

- 1/2 jar of green/basil pesto

- cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (as many as you like)

- 1/2 ball of buffalo mozzarella

1. Boil water in a pan for the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions (should take around 10 minutes)

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the sea bass, skin side down for 10 minutes on a medium heat, or until the fish is cooking through and the skin is crisp.

3. Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Add the pesto over a small heat. Stir/toss until all the pasta is coated, then stir in the tomatoes and mozzarella. Heat through.

4. Meanwhile, flip the fish onto the other side for a few minutes until cooked through (cut one piece in half to check)

4. Place the pesto spaghetti mix onto the plate and top with the sea bass. This is perfect on its own or served with extra veg - I served with green beans.

Enjoy :)