Brussels Sprouts & Smoked Salmon Linguine
A creamy indulgent linguini pasta dish inspired by festive ingredients – a surprising way to enjoy Brussels sprouts.
Brussels sprouts are not just for Christmas! But, just in case you do have some lying around after Christmas and are looking to use them up, then give them a try in this recipe. The sprouts are sautéed in butter, and then in goes crème fraiche, smoked salmon, lemon zest and a lot of black pepper, before adding in the cooked linguine.
I’ve used crème fraiche and smoked salmon as these are ingredients that I usually already buy for the festive season. I love the tang of crème fraiche and would always choose to have this with a chocolate cake, or mince pie to cut through any richness. A plea to please use full fat crème fraiche or it will split when heated. Feel free use up any leftover cream instead (e.g. single, double, sour, cashew, mascarpone) or leave out the salmon if there’s none left after Christmas day breakfast.
I personally don’t add Parmesan to pasta dishes using fish, as it’s very uncouth – but your house, your rules. If you want to add it – go for it, I will be none the wiser.
- 180 g linguine
- 20 g butter + a glug of extra-virgin olive oil
- 150 g Brussels sprouts, tough base removed, and shredded
- 2 heaped tbsp (approx 50 g) crème fraiche
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 60 g smoked salmon, torn into small strips
- Sea salt, and liberal amounts of cracked black pepper
- Put a salted pot of water onto boil for the pasta. When boiling add the pasta, it should take around 11 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the butter to a wide deep frying pan, and a glug of oil to stop the butter from burning. Add the shredded sprouts, and a pinch of salt, and cook for 10 minutes (until the pasta is ready). If the tough bits of the inner sprout are still too crunchy after 7-8 minutes, add a few tablespoons of water into the pan, and add a lid to help trap in the steam. When softened add the crème fraiche, a ladleful of the pasta water, lemon zest, chopped parsley, a heap of black pepper and give a good stir to create your sauce. Finally, add the smoked salmon.
- Using tongs flip your cooked linguine into the sauce and give a good shuffle so that everything is tossed together. Plate up and serve, adding more black pepper if you like.