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!

Smoked salmon, spinach & blue cheese toastie

Treat yourself to a crisp, toasted sandwich oozing with blue cheese, soft smoked salmon & spinach

For 1 toastie

- 2 slices of good quality bread (wholemeal seeded is my favourite)

- butter

- creamy blue cheese (whichever you prefer)

- few slices of smoked salmon

- handful of fresh spinach leaves

The smellier the ingredients, the better

1. Turn your toastie maker on, and generously butter each slice of bread.

2. When fully heated, place one slice of bread, butter-side down, into the toastie maker. Top with as much blue cheese as you would like, then layer on the smoked salmon. Finish off with the spinach, and then the other slice of bread butter-side facing up.

3. Pull the lid down on the toastie machine and leave to toast for a couple of minutes, then serve hot!

Enjoy :)

Smoked salmon breakfast

For a special occasion, or just a weekend treat, try smoked salmon with scrambled egg on English muffins for breakfast. It is really delicious - the rich smoked salmon compliments the soft, creamy eggs perfectly, and isn't too unhealthy either! Lots of protein and 'good' fats on wholemeal muffins that will leave you utterly stuffed and satisfied. The perfect brunch.

Serves 2

- 4 wholemeal English muffins, sliced
- butter or margarine, for spreading
- good quality smoked salmon
- 4 eggs
- dash of milk
- salt & pepper
- dried mixed herbs
- knob of butter

1. To make the scrambled eggs for two people, beat 4 eggs in a measuring jug and add a dash of milk, and season well with salt, pepper and dried herbs.
2. Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan and add the egg mixture, cooking on a low-medium heat and stirring often.
3. Meanwhile, toast the English muffins and butter them when done.
4. Keep stirring the eggs until scrambled to your liking.
5. To serve, add a few slices of smoked salmon to each English muffin, then top with a generous amount of scrambled egg. Top with some black pepper and voila!

Another special breakfast/brunch idea that is on the less healthy side of the spectrum, is smoked bacon and brie croissants - mmm.

Enjoy :)

Tagliatelle with pesto and green beans

As I've said maybe a million times, I love pasta and I love pesto so I'm always throwing them together; it is my ultimate comfort food. I usually love it with bits of bacon and lots of red onion and maybe a dash of cream too, but this seems to be a new favourite and healthier (although I wouldn't say no to the bacon or cream...) This is so simple to make but tastes delicious. I got the idea from the Zizzi's menu a while back - although I just checked and I don't think they do it anymore ahh! Think it was pasta twists with green beans and a very creamy pesto sauce which was scrummy but rich, so I adapted it slightly with what I had in the fridge. This is a really good way to boost getting your 5-a-day for those of you who don't like eating green veg on its own, or who are just bored of doing so. If I have spinach in the fridge I will nearly always put a big handful on my plate and then put whatever I'm eating on top (nearly everything goes with spinach aha) because although I don't like to eat spinach raw, I don't like it when it's all wet and slimey, so this way it wilts perfectly from the heat of the pasta mm mm. Adding bacon and lots of parmesan would make this dish perfecto.

Serves 2

- 200g tagliatelle

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 red onion, chopped

- 150g button mushrooms, sliced

- 1/2 pack of fine green beans, trimmed and cut in half

- 1/2 - 3/4 a jar of green pesto (size of the Sacla or Napolina ones)

- handful of fresh spinach leaves (optional)

- handful of parmesan, grated (optional)

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions in salted water (around 10 mins)

2. Fry the onions in the olive oil until softened and add the mushrooms

3. Add the green beans to the pasta water after about half the cooking time (so after 5 minutes)

4. Once cooked, drain the pasta and beans and return to the pan, adding the onions and mushrooms as well

5. Return to the heat, and stir in the pesto (this is where you would also add cream)

6. Serve on a bed of spinach leaves and top with some freshly grated parmesan (and even some fresh basil!)

Don't forget you can add anything to this like chicken or bacon or both, and cream or creme fraiche if you like more of a sauce rather than just a coating! I'm sure other vegetables would be nice in this too, not just green beans, like sugar snap peas, asparagus, brocolli, or peas!

I loved this meal so much that I made it again a week later, but this time with smoked salmon in as well, and wholewheat penne instead of tagliatelle, mm I want everyone else to share the deliciousness!!

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 :)