Spaghetti With Salmon Two Ways

Spaghetti With Salmon Two Ways
Meredith Heuer for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(181)
Comments
Read comments

To dress pasta? Olive oil, of course. But that was until I tried a generously buttered spaghetti at Arakataka restaurant in Oslo. Only after I unwound the disarmingly simple knot of fresh pasta strands tossed with butter and crowned with fish roe did the sumptuous complexity of flavors start to bloom. This was a dish I knew I would try to replicate at home. The challenge was the roe. The restaurant used lojrom, also called bleak roe, a fairly fine-grained roe that is popular in Scandinavia but hard to find in the United States. Other roes, like golden whitefish, trout and salmon, may be substituted. For a somewhat more substantial preparation, I added some hot-smoked salmon, ripe tomato and a hint of lemon.

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Ingredients

Yield:Yield 2 to 3 servings
  • Salt
  • tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1medium-large ripe beefsteak tomato, peeled, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
  • 4ounces hot-smoked salmon, skinned, diced
  • tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 8ounces spaghetti alla chitarra, preferably fresh
  • Ground black pepper
  • 3tablespoons salmon or trout roe
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (3 servings)

483 calories; 17 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 62 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 22 grams protein; 513 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. While water is heating, melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Add lemon zest to butter and cook about 90 seconds, until the lemon is fragrant. Do not allow butter to brown. Remove from heat. Add tomato and salmon to the pan and stir briefly. Fold in mint.

  2. Step 2

    When water boils, add pasta and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, then place pasta in the pot with the salmon and gently fold ingredients together. Season generously with pepper and, if needed, salt.

  3. Step 3

    Divide pasta among 2 or 3 shallow plates. Top each portion with roe and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
181 user ratings
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Comments

Trader Joe's sells hit smoked Pacific salmon, at least on the West Coast.

So good. Fusilli might make a better pasta choice here, as it would catch all of the roe that kept slipping away from my spaghetti. Use lots of course ground pepper and have a loaf of crusty bread handy to sop up the yummy leftovers.

I went down to my corner grocery here in Uppsala to get the ingredients for this dish. Dang me, if the löjrom wasn't made from sik caught in the good 'ol U.S. of A. (right fish but wrong country) It was outrageously expensive so I got the locally produced Stenbit rom (wrong fish, right country). Somehow, I think it will be good anyway.

Loved it

Didn't have roe, didn't bother peeling or seeding the tomato (and it wasn't a beefsteak); this was still tasty. Added a ladle of pasta water with the final toss for juiciness.

So we had a pile of smoked salmon left over from a party...what to do? This recipe was a delicious, and easy answer! Only changes we made to the recipe were the addition a few shakes of Aleppo pepper with the black pepper, and wilted spinach in the pasta bowls. Found salmon roe at Whole Foods, and it was a nice briny flavor punch. We served with lemon wedges, and were happy they were available (we like lemon!) Next time we'll add some slivered onion and a garlic clove, or two.

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