Pasta with spinach, lemon, basil, and salmon

This has been a summer dish of ours for some time. It is fresh tasting, healthy, and quick. One thing I really love about this meal is the texture. The chewiness of the pasta and the lightness of the raw spinach is really nice. Then the rich salmon is balanced with bright lemon and briny capers to make it seem indulgent.

Gardening and buying fish at the right time keep the cost down

I previously bought this fish for $8.99/lb at Dominick’s, but the same variety is the same price at Jewel this week. I picked the basil from my garden, but Caputo’s and most market stores will sell it at a reasonable price. I think it is usually $1.99 for a decent-sized bunch. The spinach is a quarter this week at Dominick’s when you use the coupon here (the magazine is also sometimes found in-store). You don’t have to use baby spinach, which is significantly more expensive. As long as you have young flat leaf spinach that is meant to be eaten raw, it will be great. Caputo’s also has a 16 oz jar of capers for $1.99 this week (although the jar you see above is a larger jar I bought during a previous sale). Then we just have pasta, garlic, olive oil, a lemon, salt, and pepper.

Fresh and easy

This is basically Giada’s recipe with a few minor changes. We didn’t like this with long noodles, so we substituted penne for the spaghetti. We’ve also used leftover salmon, broken up a bit and mixed in with the pasta, which proved to be a fantastic way to enjoy leftover salmon.

Mince a clove or two of garlic, wash and roughly chop a handful of basil, and zest and juice a lemon. Cook your pasta to al dente according to the package, drain.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and place it skin side down in the hot pan. Cook about 3 minutes per side for medium rare, or to desired doneness. When you flip the salmon, the skin can easily be peeled off and discarded.

Return the drained pasta to the pot and add the garlic, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon each of Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix.

Add 3 tablespoons capers, lemon zest and juice, and basil, and stir gently.

To serve, put a layer of spinach on each plate, then add pasta and place a piece of salmon on top.