Salmon and Pea Pesto Pasta -9sp

There is nothing better than a nice light pasta dish in the summer and one of the recent requests from one of my followers was a salmon pasta so…. ask and I shall deliver!!

I decided to make a nice homemade pesto to go with this and included peas to both up the flavour and lower the points (you don’t need to use as much cheese to get a lovely depth of flavour). The pesto recipe as listed below is enough to serve 4 people. If you are only making this for two (like me) you can just pop half of the pesto in a sealed pot in the fridge to be used at a later date.

Salmon and Pea Pesto Pasta

Serves 2 = 9sp per person (Flex)

Ingredients

For the pesto- the pesto recipe below is enough to serve 4. Pop half in the fridge to be used at a later date. The pesto itself is 2sp per person.

100g peas, frozen (and thawed) or fresh

28g pack of basil

Juice of 1 lemon

20g toasted pine nuts (or normal pine nuts, toasted in a frying pan)

20g parmesan, grated

2 garlic cloves, peeled

100ml water

For the pasta (serves 2 = 7sp per person)

4 tbsp low fat crème fraiche (I used Tesco’s Healthy Living)

Handful of tender stem broccoli

Handful of spinach, shredded

2 x wild Alaskan salmon fillets (110g each)

Salt, Pepper and Crushed Chillies (to taste)

1 lemon, quartered

120g pasta of your choice, dried (I used fusilli)

Method

Put the pasta on to boill and pre heat the grill. When the pasta has 5 minutes left, add the broccoli and then, once cooked, drain everything and return to the same pan.

Meanwhile, pop all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth. This will make enough pesto for 4 servings so pop half in a pot and keep it in the fridge for another meal. Keep the other half to one side.

Add the remaining pesto to the cooked pasta and broccoli along with the crème fraiche. Pop on a low heat to warm the crème fraiche through (this should just take a few minutes). Season to taste.

Pop the salmon on a baking tray, squeeze over a little lemon, season with salt and pepper and add a few crushed chillies. Pop under a hot grill for 6 minutes until cooked through (or to your liking).

Finally add a handful of shredded spinach to the pasta pan. Once wilted, taste for seasoning, add a few crushed chillies and a final squeeze of lemon and serve in a pasta bowl with the salmon on top.

You could shred the salmon and mix through the pasta but I like it left whole.

Enjoy!