This Salmon & Penne Alfredo was inspired by the seafood with pesto cream penne alfredo from Ragazzi’s Italian Restaurant. The seafood with pesto cream involves basil with walnut pesto blended into penne alfredo sauce with sauteed shrimp and fresh salmon. It’s $14.99 a plate which I’m telling you is sooooo worth it coz it’s soooo good and you get so much of it. I can only eaT half of the plate then save my leftovers for lunch the following day. Delicious creamy pesto with alfredo sauce, and large pieces of shrimp and chunks of salmon. If I could somehow name a kid from this dish, I would.
My own version of course is very much simplified. It doesn’t have the creamy pesto sauce coz I didn’t have the stuff to make it(basil, walnuts) and I also omitted the shrimp coz we just had shrimp last Sunday. It was delicious nonetheless. I just love creating my own version of restaurant dishes that I love even though I don’t create the exact same thing all the time. I just have fun working in my kitchen with a particular dish to copy in mind.
Next time I’ll make it the Ragazzi’s way, but for now, here’s my simplified version.
| Salmon & Penne Alfredo |
- 2 salmon fillets
- 4 tbsp of oil
- 1 box of penne, cooked al dente
- 1 jar of alfredo sauce
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (+more)
- sprinkle of Italian seasoning (or sprinkles of dried oregano and dried basil)
- sprinkle of garlic powder
- sprinkle of salt & pepper
- Boil water in a pot to cook the penne, according to the box.
- In a pan, heat up the oil. Fry up the salmon fillets, skin-side down first. 6-8 minutes on each side. Set it aside to cool. Once cooled, carefully chopped up the salmon in chunks.
- In sauce pan, pour over the jar of alfredo sauce. Add the water into the jar, cover then shake. Pour the whole thing into the pan. Season with sprinkles of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt & pepper. Stir and let that simmer in medium heat.
- Ladle some of the alfredo sauce into a bowl. Add the chunks of salmon then carefully incorporate the two. *refer to NOTES below*
- Drain the water off of the cooked pasta, then transfer into the sauce pan. Stir the penne and alfredo sauce together. Stir in the cup of grated Parmesan cheese, Add the salmon chunks along with the sauce into the pan. Gently stir everything together once or twice. Try not to break the salmon too much.
- Transfer the whole thing into a pasta/casserole platter to serve at the table.
- Serve with garlic bread and/or a side of salad. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top.
*To avoid breaking the chunks of salmon too much, it’s better to mix them with a little bit of the sauce into a separate bowl. Gently stir in the whole thing into the pasta and sauce pan at the very last minute.
Here are locations of Ragazzi’s in North Carolina and Virginia just in case you’re interested. *THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST*
Hi,
Wow! This recipe looks fantastic. I love salmon. I work for Kamut International. I bet this recipe would be equally as tasty if made with Kamut wheat pasta too! Yum!
http://www.kamut.com
Thanks!
@Sammi, my family loves wheat pastas too. Sometimes I make spaghetti with wheat spaghetti noodles or wheat rotini salad. This dish would definitely be great with what penne as well