Salmon Shells in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

A few weeks ago we had free biometric screenings at work.  The good news, is that everything about me was wonderfully healthy except my good cholesterol levels were low - they told me I need to eat more salmon!  Gimpy and I love salmon, but it's one of those things that I feel like I have to buy the day I'm going to cook it.  So, on Good Friday I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up some salmon fillets and made a creamy tomato sauce with shells and salmon.

Salmon Shells in a Creamy Tomato Sauce
2 salmon filets
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp tomato paste
15 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 cups small shells

Spray a sautee pan with a little olive oil and heat to medium.  When the pan is hot, add the salmon filets.  Make sure your pan is hot, or the fish will stick!  In the meantime, bring salted water to a boil and cook your pasta.

In a small bowl, mix the heavy cream until it gets foamy and doubles in size.  Mix in the tomato paste.  Cook your fish about 3 minutes per side, until they turn more opaque.  Remove the skin, add in the tomato halves, and chop the fish into small pieces.  Add the pasta.

Once the pasta, tomatoes, and salmon are mixed together, add the cream sauce, toss together and add salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Meatless Mushroom Pasta

Last week I was visiting my friends in Texas after a 3 day work conference in Austin.  On Saturday, I went to stay with my friend Jena, who is partially responsible for my love of cooking.  Jena and I lived together right out of college, and we'd cook our meals together.  When you're cooking for 2 instead of 1, you can really experiment and try new things. 

Jena and I went to my favorite place - Central Market - to pick up some things to cook for dinner.  It was during their Hail to the Cheese festival, so there were lots of yummy samples to try.  We decided to do a very mushroom pasta dish, and picked up 4 kinds of mushrooms. 

Mushroom Pasta
2 bunches fresh fettucini
Fresh thyme
Handful shiitake mushrooms
Handful chanterelle mushrooms
Handful hen of the woods mushrooms
Handful of matsutake mushrooms
1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
3 TBSP half and half - or light cream, whatever you have
Salt & Pepper
1/4 cup each shredded asiago, manchego, and parmesean cheeses

Bring water to a boil with salt and three springs of thyme - this will impart the flavor into your pasta.  In a wok, melt the butter, and add all of the chopped mushrooms.  Sautee until tender, add salt and pepper, the leaves of 2 sprigs of thyme, and the cream.  Add in 1/4 cup of the assorted cheeses. 

Drain your pasta, remove the thyme sprigs, and add to the wok.  Mix together the mushrooms and pasta, and top with remaining cheese.  Serve with wine, and enjoy!