Updated 11.25.25
A few issues ago, I read in Cooking Light a suggestion, what they called ‘Flip Your Pasta’; a rather simple suggestion, but oh so valuable; we should indeed flip our pasta dishes. Put the emphasis on the vegetables and not on the pasta; turn the ratio around. Vegetables/meat with pasta rather than Pasta with vegetables or whatever. Most pastas are indeed ’empty carbs’, just carbs; they don’t do us much good as healthy intake is concerned.
Pasta flipping is not only a smart move for your health, but also a smart move for your taste buds. Pasta itself doesn’t have a lot of flavor (unless it is flavored … duh..), so we add sauce or vegetables, meat, fish or any combination and create an extremely satisfying dish and that’s why we love them so much. Logically, this flipping may not work so well on the traditional Mac & Cheese, because you would be serving more sauce than pasta, or on a Cacio e pepe dish. But when you make a pasta with veggies and meat/fish, you might want to consider to make it with less pasta and more veggies.
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Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Salmon
- Asparagus
- Spinach
- Pappardelle pasta
- Garlic
- Butter
- Flour
- White Wine
- Cream
How to Make Salmon, Asparagus & Spinach Pappardelle
Step 1 – Clean the asparagus by cutting off the bottom inch; the woody part of the asparagus stem and discard. Cut the asparagus in 2-3 pieces. Transfer asparagus into a pan and add about 1.5 inches of water. You will need a steamer insert and the water should not touch the bottom of the steamer part). Add salt to the water.
Step 2 – Skin the salmon fillet and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Spray the bottom of a steamer insert with non-stick spray to ensure easy release of the fish. Place the salmon in the steamer and place it on top of the pot with asparagus and cover.
Bring to a boil and cook the asparagus for max. 5 minutes. Take the asparagus out of the pan (keep water), and cool them down with ice water. Place the pot back on the stove and continue to steam the salmon for another 5-7 minutes. Take the salmon out of the pan and keep warm. Discard water.
Step 3 – Cook the pasta in a separate pan according to the directions on the packaging and drain (reserve some of the pasta water).
Step 4 – Use the pan asparagus pan to make the sauce. Soften the garlic in butter, sprinkle with the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add wine, cream and salt & pepper to taste. The sauce should coat the back of your spoon. Add some pasta water to thin if needed.
Then add pasta and asparagus into sauce and mix.
Step 5 – Add spinach and salmon and mix again. During the last mix, you will need to divide the salmon in smaller pieces, but don’t mix it into oblivion. You want chunks of salmon. Add some more pasta water if needed.
- Alternatively, you can serve the salmon on top of the Asparagus and Spinach Pappardelle.
ENJOY!
Other Salmon Pastas to Try
Salmon, Asparagus & Spinach Pappardelle
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
- 2 ounces pappardelle pasta
- 10 ounces salmon fillet
- 8 ounces asparagus
- 2 ounces baby spinach
- salt and pepper
White Wine Sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 1 garlic
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup cream
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the asparagus and cut off the bottom inch, the woody part of the stem. Then cut the stems in 2-3 pieces.
- Transfer asparagus to the bottom part of a stack-and-steam pot and add about 1.5 inches of water (the water should not touch the bottom of the steamer part). Add salt to the water.
- Skin the salmon fillet, using a thin, flexible knife. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spray the bottom of steamer part of your pot with non-stick spray to ensure easy release of the fish. Place the salmon in the pot and place the pot on top of the bottom part. Place the lid on the stack.
- Bring the water to a boil, turn the heat to medium and cook the asparagus for approx. 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and take the asparagus out of the water and cool them down. Place the stack back on the stove and continue to steam the salmon for another 5-7 minutes. Total steaming time all depends on the thickness of the fillet.
- In a separate pan, boil water and salt for the pasta and cook according to the direction on the packaging. Drain the pasta and reserve some of the pasta water for the sauce.
- Use the pan in which you cooked the asparagus to make the sauce; soften the garlic in butter, sprinkle with the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add wine, cream and salt and pepper to taste. Add pasta water to thin the sauce until it coats the back of your spoon.
- Add the pasta and the asparagus to the sauce and toss to coat with the sauce. Add some pasta water if needed.
- Add spinach and salmon and mix again. Mix carefully and cut the salmon while mixing, but don’t make it mushy, just smaller manageable pieces that can be mixed and become part of the pasta dish and not be on top of the pasta dish.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks so delicious! Pinning!
Karly; Thank you so much. This recipe came out really nice and creamy without adding too many calories.