Hot smoked salmon, fennel and pea pasta

I often buy ready cooked hot smoked salmon when I am out shopping as its a good fridge standby for a healthy quick meal with salad, its also popular with MR LF too. Most supermarkets and even some fishmongers normally stock a packed version alongside the smoked mackerel.

This dish hardly needs a recipe as its so easy and can be whipped up in minutes, from store cupboard and freezer basics, the dish is enhanced by using fresh from the garden fennel fronds, but if you don't have them dried dill or fennel will work almost as well.

What you need

• Pasta - macaroni or farfelle work well, gluten free if you like
• 1 pack of hot smoked salmon - skin removed and flaked
• Frozen petit pois or peas
• Dill or fennel - fronds, freshly chopped or use dried herbs
• Creme fraiche

What you do

• Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack, for the last 3 minutes add the frozen peas and bring back to the boil to finish cooking the pasta and the peas
• Drain the pasta  and peas using a colander, return back to pan which now contains very little water and toss with 3 tbsp of creme fraiche and the flaked salmon.
• Strewn with the fresh dill or fennel fronds, and lightly toss
• Serve with a little freshly ground black pepper.

Delicious and so simple supper can be on the table in 15 minutes or less

This post is being linked up to "Pasta Please" created by Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Slice of Me.

                                            

And Recipe of The Week over at A Mummy Too

                                                                  

Quick hollandaise sauce

Hollandaise sauce is a great recipe to have in your arsenal, this versatile sauce is often thought to be difficult to make but if you have a food processor to whisk it up in you shouldn't have any issues with your sauce splitting or your sauce failing to thicken.

The origins of Hollandaise is a debated hotly and is claimed by both Holland and France, well whatever I say. All I know that this is a great accompaniment to fish (particularly salmon and as pictured), asparagus (as pictured), eggs benedict and the basis of other great sauces such as bearnasie.

The sauce in the photograph is a foaming hollandaise, where the whisked egg whites are folded back into the sauce, this is a surefire way of ensuring you sauce doesn't split, especially if you need to re heat it.

Oh and just in case you were wondering that lovely local asparagus too and some garlic and rosemary potatoes.

What you need

• 2 eggs - seperated
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 dessert spoon of white wine vinegar
• Rough 3 oz of butter
• Salt and pepper

What you do

• Place the egg yolks in the bowl of your food processor (my magimix has a dinky little bowl which fits inside the large bowl, that is the perfect size)
• In a small bowl, I microwave the lemon juice and vinegar for 30 seconds, until warm. Add this to the egg, whizz in for a few seconds
• In the same bowl melt the butter, and slowly with the processor whizzing drizzle in the butter, until you have a thicken emulsion. Don't hurry this step take your time, all of a sudden you will have a lovely glossy sauce.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• If you want to make foaming hollandiase, whisk up in a bowl the egg white until at the soft peak stage and fold into your golden sauce.
• Serve warm or cold with fish, asparagus or over egg benedict.