While I love to eat seafood, especially grilled seafood, in the summer, a plain filet can get boring. And frankly, I start to miss comfort foods a little. So sometimes, I'll sneak a pasta dish or two into our meals each month. Having said that, I do choose to pair that pasta and seafood with a lighter sauce. Usually it's Alfredo Sauce. This time around though, I was craving some lemon (maybe I'm getting scurvy, or listening to too much Sponge Bob Square Pants and Pink singing about scurvy. Dang you, Sponge Bob!). So lemon needed to be incorporated into my sauce.
I had seen a recipe using flaked salmon in a pasta sauce, and that idea really stuck with me. So using a basic cream sauce (I usually choose half and half for my white sauces because it makes it a little creamier than when using milk), I added a little lemon zest, a little cream cheese, and a whole lot of salmon. The end result was something that reminded me of McGrath's Fish House. The vermicelli was an awesome choice for pasta because it's thin enough to balance out the flaked salmon. Any thicker and I think you'd lose the fish. And the lemon is very light in the sauce so it still tastes like a pasta dish. Big hit with the fam!
Grilled Salmon with Vermicelli in Lemon Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1 lb. salmon filet
1 lemon, zested and cut into quarters
1 package Vermicelli
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. chicken bouillon powder (2 cubes)
6 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 cups half and half
1 tsp. salt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 roma tomato, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 bunch asparagus
Directions:
1. Prepare salmon. Preheat grill over medium heat. Lightly grease grill grate and place salmon filet, skin down, onto grill. Cook salmon for about 15 minutes or until salmon is cooked through and begins to separate. During cooking, each 5 minutes, squeeze 1 lemon quarter over salmon. Remove to a plate and allow to rest while preparing sauce.
2. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
3. Prepare sauce. Preheat large skillet over medium high heat. Melt butter. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add bouillon powder. Stir to incorporate. Add cream cheese and stir constantly until melted. Slowly add half and half, constantly stirring. Add salt, to taste. Add Parmesan cheese and lemon zest, stirring constantly until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.
4. Remove salmon from skin and flake. Add to sauce along with roma tomatoes and parsley. Gently stir to incorporate. Serve warm with cooked vermicelli and steamed asparagus.
Serves 6
