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Mary Berry Salmon Linguine

Mary Berry Salmon Linguine

Mary Berry salmon linguine brings together flaky hot-smoked salmon, sharp lemon juice, briny capers and fresh herbs in a light, glossy sauce made in one frying pan. A splash of reserved pasta water helps the sauce cling to every strand, and toasted pine nuts add a crisp, nutty finish. Serves 4.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 225 g/8oz linguine
  • 75 g/3¾oz pine nuts toasted in the dry pan before anything else goes in
  • Small knob of butter
  • 6 spring onions trimmed and finely sliced, known as scallions in the US
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 lemons juice only, squeezed before you start cooking
  • 115 g/4oz capers from a jar drained
  • Small bunch fresh chives chopped
  • Small bunch fresh parsley leaves chopped
  • 200 g/7oz hot-smoked salmon flakes or fillets broken into bite-sized flakes if using whole fillets
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper salt is also used for the pasta cooking water

Method
 

  1. Boil the linguine. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the linguine for the time given on the packet, until tender but still with a slight bite.
  2. Save some cooking water, then drain. Before draining, ladle out 75ml/2½fl oz of the starchy pasta water and set it aside. Then drain the linguine.
  3. Toast the pine nuts. Set a frying pan over a high heat and add the pine nuts. Cook for 30 seconds, until they turn golden brown and smell toasty, then lift them out and keep them to one side so they don’t scorch.
  4. Fry the spring onions. Drop the butter into the same pan along with the spring onions and fry for 30 seconds, just long enough for the butter to foam and the onions to soften and turn glossy.
  5. Warm the sauce base. Pour in the olive oil, lemon juice and capers and let everything heat for another 30 seconds. Expect a brief sizzle as the lemon juice meets the hot fat.
  6. Bring pasta and salmon together. Tip in the cooked linguine, the reserved pasta water, the chives and parsley, and the salmon. Taste before seasoning, since the capers are already salty, then add salt and black pepper and toss gently over the heat until the sauce turns glossy and clings to the pasta. Keep the movement light so the salmon stays in flakes.
  7. Serve straight away. Divide between plates, scatter the toasted pine nuts over the top and eat immediately, while the sauce is still loose and shiny.

Notes

Prep and cook time. The supplied timings are 30 minutes prep and 30 minutes cook. In practice, most of the preparation is chopping and juicing, and much of it can be done while the pasta water comes to the boil.
Why the pan must be ready. Each stage of the sauce takes around 30 seconds over a high heat. Having every ingredient measured and prepared before the pine nuts go in is the difference between a calm finish and burnt nuts.
Toasting in a dry pan. The pine nuts go into the empty frying pan first, before the butter. Their own oil is enough to toast them, and keeping them separate means they stay crisp until serving.