I broke the cardinal rule of money saving and went grocery shopping hungry. Fast forward about forty-five minutes, and I left with a salmon filet (among real groceries too). I’m a fairly big fan of fish. For the last four years or so, I’ve been a bit spoiled with knowing exactly where the fish I was eating came from. I guess that’s what you get when you date a fisherman. This is the first time I’ve really cooked salmon, so here’s my first salmon recipe!
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This recipe was fairly easy. I wasn’t sure ultimately what I wanted to do with it. Growing up, my mom always said that salmon was a “fishy fish”, meaning that it tastes more like the ocean than other fish do. Keeping that in mind, I wanted to do my best to cover any potential fish taste in my salmon recipe. Later, I decided to make a cream sauce to go with the salmon…add in some pasta and voila! It’s a really good salmon recipe. One tip to think of before you get started: Over-season everything. Trust me.
Garlic Marinated Salmon & Angel Hair Pasta with Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
- Salmon – Mine happened to have the skin on, but you can do without as well.
- Angel Hair Pasta – You can also use your choice of noodle. I just happened to have some on hand.
- Minced Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk – I used skim milk, but most recipes for cream sauces recommend whole milk or heavy whipping cream.
- Lemon & Pepper Salt – This is a seasoning blend that exists. It isn’t anything fancy that I made.
- Salt & Pepper
- Paprika
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
Instructions:
- You’re going to start with a bit of a marinade. Be sure to wash your filet(s) and lay them on a sheet of aluminum foil. Pat dry. Drizzle the filet(s) with some olive oil, and add salt and pepper.
- Spread with minced garlic. I’m a bit lazy, so I have a jar of it in my fridge, but I used about 2 cloves on the filet.
- Sprinkle with the lemon & pepper salt.
- Wrap up the filet(s). Be sure each filet is in its own package. You’re going to cook the salmon in the aluminum foil later. Put the fish back in the fridge. Mine marinated for about 3 hours before I started cooking everything else.
- Now that the salmon filet has marinated in some delicious flavor for a while, it’s time to start the sauce. First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once the oven has preheated, place the aluminum foil package (in its entirety) in the oven for 12 minutes. Cook time will depend on the thickness of your filet.
- In a small saucepan, melt a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add minced garlic. I’d recommend about four cloves. Stir until you smell garlic (more than you smell butter), but don’t let the garlic brown. You’re going to be on low-medium heat to make the rest of the sauce.
- Add about a tablespoon of flour. Your goal is to make a roux. Stir constantly until you get a darker paste.
- Add a cup of milk SLOWLY, stirring constantly. I literally mean constantly. I was making my pasta while making the sauce, and it was quite difficult. The sauce should start to thicken.
- Add a teaspoon of paprika and Italian seasoning, pepper to taste, and some garlic powder (just a sprinkle). Continue stirring. If you find your sauce is too thin, add a sprinkle more flour. If it’s too thick, you can add a bit more milk.
- Prepare pasta as directed. Hopefully you’ve been doing this throughout!
- Drain the pasta and immediately cover with your garlic cream sauce.
- Add salmon. You can top with a filet (or have it share a plate). Since the skin was on mine, I flaked the salmon and added it to my pasta.
That’s all! I thought it would be an intimidating meal, but it wasn’t too bad. Do remember that you should use more seasoning than I mentioned. Also, you can change it up a bit. Want it spicier? Add more paprika and even some chili powder. That turns it into a bit more of a cajun feel. This is a super simple salmon recipe that you can make your own. What’s your favorite salmon recipe?
