Fettuccine with Salmon and Arugula

Taking a little departure from our series on hor d’oeuvres for the holidays to bring you this scrumptious treat from the pasta department.  Those of you who know me are well aware of what a FREAK I am about pasta.  Those of you who don’t know me so well, I should tell you that I have a freakish (in a good way) love of pasta, and it’s rather a testament to my self-discipline that there are only 8 pasta recipes in the archive (so far).

I really love this particular recipe because it pairs fettuccine, one of my favorite pasta types, with salmon, another favorite food group of mine.  Over the years I’ve made several salmon pastas, but I keep coming back to this one because for one, it packs a big flavor whallop, and B, it’s not heavy, rich or overly-laden with cream or cheese.  In fact the recipe calls for no cream or cheese, but I have a very hard time eating pasta without parmesan, even if it has seafood, which is an Italian sin of the gravest magnitude.  But I think salmon can stand up to a good dusting of the stuff, so I grant you permission and absolution to do so with impunity.

So not only are we talking salmon and fettuccine here, but arugula and capers and lemon, lovely herbs and wine, and are you hungry yet?  Oh, well let me mention that there is a little butter in here too.  I knew that would get you.  Wait no more.  Fettuccine with salmon and arugula is here for you.  Well, it was....

FETTUCCINE WITH SALMON AND ARUGULA

Printable Recipe

 2 T butter

2 T olive oil

2 shallots, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 1/3 cups dry white wine

½ cup bottled clam juice

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. dried marjoram or fresh

1 ¾ pounds skinless salmon fillets, cut into ½ inch pieces

3 cups loosely packed fresh arugula

2 T drained capers

1 T chopped fresh parsley

1 T chopped fresh basil

12 oz fettuccini

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter with olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat.  Add shallots and garlic; sauté 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes and cook just until tender about 5 minutes.  Increase heat to medium high.

Add wine, clam juice, lemon juice and marjoram; simmer 5 minutes.  Add salmon and simmer until almost cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.  Add arugula, capers and fresh herbs. 

Simmer until salmon is just cooked through and arugula is just wilted, about 2 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, cook linguine, put in pasta bowl, top with salmon mixture, toss to coat.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve with grated parmesan and a dusting of fresh, chopped parsley.