Salmon Pesto Pasta
This easy and delicious Salmon Pesto Pasta is hearty, protein-rich, and full of bright flavors and textures for the ultimate summer pasta dish. Made in about an hour, it's delicious served warm or cold and the leftovers are even better the next day.
Ingredients
- 1lb filet of fresh salmon
- 1 box of orecchiette
- 1 cup spring peas
- 1 cup asparagus, end cut and chopped into thirds
- Shaved parmesan
- 3 tbsp butter
- ½ cup pecans* *or pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts—many other nuts would also be great!
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- ⅓ cup pesto (homemade or store bought)
- Olive oil
- Red pepper flakes
For homemade pesto:
- ¾ cup basil leaves
- ¾ cup EVOO
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- sea salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F. Lay herbs on a sheet pan and then place salmon on top. Coat in olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for about 45 min or until salmon is just a little pink inside. Use a fork to flake salmon.
- Meanwhile, boil salted water and start making pesto. Combine pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. Season to taste.
- When pasta has 2 min left, add asparagus and peas to the pasta. Drain and add to a bowl. Alternatively, you could skim veggies off the side and blanch in ice water to stop the cooking and keep them nice and green.
- In a small skillet, melt butter and add pecans (or other nuts). Cook until golden, about 3 min.
- Add pasta to a very large bowl and add a nice glug of good olive oil to make sure it doesn’t stick together. Add salmon, pesto, pecans, peas, asparagus and shaved parm. Top with lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The faster you eat it, the fresher it'll taste. Serve it chilled, straight from the fridge, or let it come to room temperature first.
- We don't actually recommend freezing this as the texture of the pasta and salmon could change once thawed, and the pesto could brown. Enjoy this pasta fresh!
- This is a great make-ahead recipe. Prep each component in advance and assemble when you're ready to serve, or fully mix together the whole pasta up to a day in advance, store in the fridge, and serve when you're ready.