Description
A delicious and creamy Tuscan-style pasta featuring tender salmon and succulent shrimp in a rich sauce made with garlic, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. This elegant yet easy-to-make seafood pasta is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or impressing guests with minimal effort.
Ingredients
Scale
Seafood
- 350 g (12.3 oz) salmon fillets (skin-on)
- 500 g (1 lb) shrimp/prawns, peeled and deveined
Vegetables & Aromatics
- ½ onion, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 6 sundried tomatoes, sliced
Other Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 knob of butter (or a splash of olive oil)
- 1 cup cream
- 1–2 tsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 500 g (1 lb) pasta
Instructions
- Prepare Salmon: Pat the salmon fillets dry with paper towels. Drizzle olive oil over them and season generously with salt and pepper to enhance flavor and promote crispiness when cooking.
- Cook Salmon Skin-Side Down: Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Place the salmon fillets skin-side down in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin turns crispy and golden brown.
- Flip Salmon: Carefully turn the fillets over and cook for another 1 minute to finish cooking through. Remove the salmon from the pan and set it aside to keep warm.
- Season Shrimp: Season the peeled and deveined shrimp with salt, pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
- Cook Shrimp: In the same pan, cook shrimp for 1 minute on each side until they are almost cooked through and pink. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Sauté Onion and Garlic: Add a knob of butter or a splash of olive oil to the pan. Add minced onion and crushed garlic, cooking until fragrant and softened to build the sauce’s base flavor.
- Add Greens and Tomatoes: Stir in the baby spinach and sliced sundried tomatoes. Cook until the spinach wilts and reduces in volume.
- Make Cream Sauce: Pour in the cream and add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Reintroduce Seafood: Return the cooked salmon and shrimp to the sauce, gently stirring to warm the seafood through without breaking the fillets or shrimp apart.
- Toss Pasta: Spoon some cream sauce over the cooked pasta. Toss well, adding a little reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed. Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese for richness.
- Plate and Serve: Serve the pasta onto plates topped with the salmon, shrimp, and extra sauce for a beautiful, flavorful finish.
Notes
- Use skin-on salmon fillets for crispier texture; skinless will still work but won’t crisp as well.
- Reserve some pasta cooking water to adjust sauce consistency when tossing.
- If you prefer less rich sauce, use half-and-half or milk instead of cream.
- Add red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
- Freshly grated Parmesan melts better and enhances the flavor more than pre-grated cheese.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Tuscan/Italian
