Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta

While I appreciate the submitter's attempts to make the cream sauce lighter by using skim milk and thickening with flour, I don't think it achieved the same effect as the real stuff. Hubby couldn't eat more than a couple bites. I thought the sauce's taste and texture was a bit too floury. Light cream would probably have been better suited for this dish. It also needed fresh cracked pepper and minced garlic instead of garlic powder. I also only used half the butter.

I really enjoyed this recipe ! It was delicious, I did change it somewaht, I used fresh mushrooms instead of canned. I grilled the salmon and I added a little white wine and a few t. spoons of lemon juice. I could not stop telling all my friends how delicious it was. Definetly a keeper.

I LOVE this recipe!!! I alter it a tiny bit - I use less butter (about 4 tablespoons), 1% milk instead of skim, 1 cup of Romano cheese (I really love Romano cheese), and a whole bag of frozen peas ('cause they're good for you!). Oh, and I leave out mushrooms 'cause I don't like them. But this recipe is really great. I find it comes tastier if you use the moist smoked salmon instead of the dry smoked salmon. My boyfriend and I cook this every other week, we enjoy it so much.

Great recipe and so quick to do! My wife, who is not a fan of “slap it all together” food, actually asked me how hard it was to do since she would like to make it again. The changes I made are very simple: reduced butter to 4 tablespoons, all fresh veggies, and could not help myself to up the calorie count by adding two crumbled pieces of bacon at the last step with the salmon (yumm!!!).

Well, how did I change THIS recipe? First of all, no onion! Then, I sauteed fresh mushrooms with the garlic & removed them from the pan before making a nice toasty roux. I used 2% milk and no cheese (we don't like cheese with most seafoods). Added some dill along with the peas, mushrooms & salmon. Very tasty and would definitely make again! Thanks for the post!

In response to the reviewer who used leftover grilled salmon-Grilled salmon will not work in this recipe-at least for me. Smoked salmon has an alltogether different flavor and texture that makes this recipe unique!

I found this recipe searching for something creative to do with smoked salmon and I sure was not disappointed! The only modifications I made were to make it a little healthier...I used way less butter (only like a tbsp) for flavor and 2 tbsp of EVOO, some fresh garlic, and fresh ground pepper. It was dinner and lunch for two day after...I didn't want to let any go to waste!

This tasted like something you'd get in a restaurant. I added asparagas spears and my husband raved! The key is to get good quality salmon and not use something out of a can.

I love this recipe! I would change one thing, use cheese tortellini instead of penne pasta. I promise that you will love it! Thanks for the recipe.

I'd give this one 3.5 stars if I could, but I just can't justify 4. I don't know why I didn't love this - I loved the idea of it, but when I made it, it was just missing something (besides the mushrooms I left out by choice, that is). Maybe I wanted it cheesier? I tried it and immediately added pepper, a little salt, and fresh garlic and it helped a little, but it still seemed to be lacking. I was excited to try this because it sounded so good, but I was disappointed. Somehow the sauce seemed to mute the smoky taste of the salmon that I really love and it did more resemble a fish casserole (blech, ok not that bad, but just not great). I might try this again, with a lot of changes. I'm sitting here confused, and with a bunch of leftovers wondering how I can make it better.

This recipe was good. I changed the serving to 4 and therefore my measurements were different that what is originally listed. Instead of garlic powder I crushed 2 cloves of garlic; instead of measuring the exact amount of milk, I just slowly added it to the onions and butter, and then a bit more when I added in the cheese. Instead of Romano cheese I used mozzarella (delicious). Instead of peas and mushrooms, I used broccoli (our family wanted to use broccoli instead). And I added lots of fresh ground pepper as I was cooking the sauce. This meal was delicious and had great flavour! I highly recommend it.

I liked this recipe very much, and I will be adding it to my collection. I don't consider it to be anything like pasta carbonara but it is definitely a more upscale approach to replacing a salmon casserole. I used the websites scaling ability to downscale the recipe to just 4 portions. This took the butter down to 3 tablespoons which was very workable. The amounts of all the rest of the ingredients were workable except for garlic powder. I reduced it from 1 teaspoon to just a light dusting and it was more than enough for the dish. I sneaked in a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, too, because it just didn't taste right without it. To the reviewer who felt that skim milk was a compromise, I assure you it was not. And, as for the flour taste, it is necessary to cook a roux for a few minutes (while stirring like crazy so as not to brown it) to mitigate the floury taste. All in all, it was excellent. What a great way to get a serving (or two) or omega-rich salmon in your diet. Thank you for sharing.

This was exactly what I was looking for when a friend gave us some tasty smoked salmon! We really enjoyed the dish with 2 additions: I sauteed tomatoes with the onion and fresh garlic and added spinach at the same time I added the salmon. It will be a keeper!

It's a really tasty dish. I springkle italian herbs on the sauce and squeeze half lemon. My husband really like it. Thanks Dinah

This was pretty good, I made a few changes to kick it up a notch. I deleted the onion, mushrooms, and reduced the garlic to 1/2 tsp. I also added some dill....maybe 1/2-1 tsp. There was quite a few people that talked about lack of flavor and cooking their salmon..That could be the problem...smoked salmon doesn't get cooked, it is smoked. It is usually vacuum sealed, not in the same place as fresh fish. I hope that helps

Yum! This is a great recipe, although I tweaked it quite a bit for ingredients I had on hand. I used fresh garlic & mushrooms instead of canned & powdered. I added 1 extra TBSP. of flour. I didn't have any romano cheese, so I stirred some cream cheese and goat cheese into the mixture. I also used fresh Basil fettucine. It was heavenly!!

Always looking at a few recipes before making something, some of the bad reviews lead me to choose different options. Replace the onion with shallots, garlic. Used 1/2 and 1/2 and cream, white wine, and more cheese and it turned out great!!!

Great flavor! I changed it up a bit with some sauteed onion and red bell pepper. Omitted the mushrooms and used some asparagus spears instead of the peas, because I didn't have any. I used skim milk and omitted the flour.

I threw this together for a quick dinner and was pleasantly surprised- in fact I enjoyed the smoked salmon much more when prepared this way. I didn't follow the recipe exactly- I used rotinipasta, which is what I had on hand, substituted spinach for mushrooms, and added about a tablespoon of lemon juice to thin out the sauce at the end. I would skip the onions and peas the next time as I did not care for their texture, and I would recommend using lemon juice if your sauce becomes too thick- I think it complemented the dish quite nicely.

This was super yummy! I agree that it really tastes like a lighter version of pasta carbonara. Of course, I had to use a whole cup of romano and 2% milk was all I had. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. It was easy and tasty. In the future, I might use a different noodle than penne pasta as it is not my favorite but that's a pretty minor detail.

DELICIOUS!!! Simple to make. Leftovers were just as tasty. Next time I'm going to use less than the 10 ounces of salmon though...the taste got a little overwhelming after the first few bites. 5 ounces would probably be plenty.

Everyone really liked this. I used salmon we had canned with a smoke flavor. I used shredded parmesan cheese, and canned peas (added them when I put in the salmon).

This tasted okay, but probably not one I will make again. For all the more (less) taste it had, you could probably save a lot of time and substitute a jar of pre-made alfredo sauce instead.

A pretty good recipe. Felt like it was missing something, but I dont know what it was. I made the sauce with less butter and added 1 cup of fat free half & half and used 1 cup of skim milk. I also used a mixture of parmesan, romano and asiago cheese and that added alot of flavor. I added corn and doubled the amount of mushrooms (because I love 'em). The biggest difference was that I used mushroom-stuffed ravioli instead of penne pasta, and I think that added alot of flavor to the dish. Not the best thing I have ever made, but it was pretty darn good. The smoked salmon added a nice smokey taste that I wasn't expecting.

I usually agree with reviews when they are given 5 stars but I have to say this tasted too much like tuna fish casserole for us. Even my husband, who is a salmon fanatic didn't like this. It was a waste of perfectly good leftover grilled salmon...

New family fav! My 6yr old and hubby went for seconds!! I had bought several fresh-made flavors of smoked salmon from a fish market the other day. Wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, so I surfed in here and found this recipe. Instead of the "lighter" version, I had heavy cream on hand that needed to be used up. Also I used minced garlic instead of powder... and I thought I had frozen peas on hand, but didn't - which was a bummer! However, I did have fresh spinach and to add color contrast, I chopped that up to toss in it. YUMMY!

This was very good and very easy. A great, different way to prepare seafood. The only thing I did different was use parmesan cheese. Tasty! Thanks!

I might have portioned it wrong, but I felt like I needed more sauce.

What to do with leftover smoked salmon? This was absolutely fabulous! I even had the ingredients in my pantry! I did substitute the garlic powder for fresh garlic, canned mushrooms for fresh mushrooms and the Romano for Parmesan. I did add a little salt and pepper to the sauce. I served over egg noodles and my family thought it was great! Who'da thought to put smoked salmon in a cream sauce? Thanks for the recipe! Can't wait til we smoke another salmon!

I made a few minor adjustments ... used fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, added salt/pepper and a little Italian seasoning. I don't like mushrooms, so I left those out. I only had enough sauce for about 10 oz of pasta ... perhaps it was just something I did. Very good - will be making this again.

It was only just 'okay'. The only change I made was using Parmesan instead of Romano. I won't make it again

I had some cream leftover, so instead of 2 cups of skim milk, I used 2/3 cups of cream and 1-1/3 cups of skim milk. I didn't have romano cheese, so I used parmesan petals. I used one whole onion, chopped up 2 cloves of garlic and decreased the amount or garlic powder. I also used 1-3/4 cups of peas and omitted the mushrooms. Overall it was good, but I think there's still some room for improvement.

This recipes was excellent! My boyfriend and I enjoyed it very much. I substituted the peas for Spinach because i don't really like peas and cheddar for the cheese because that was all i had in the fridge and yet it was fantastic! Thanks for the excellent and easy to make recipe!

I was trying to decide what to do with my smoked salmon and I had all the ingredients on hand. I was skeptical, but this was pretty good.

We enjoyed this. Used a spoonful of Philadelphia Cooking Cream

This is very quick and easy and GOOD. The alterations to this recipe that I always make are to use fresh garlic and mushrooms. I never use peas, either, because I'm allergic. Even though I used 2% milk, it seemed watery in the pan, but once I added the noodles it was fine. Another reviewer added spinach, and that inspired me to add arugula and chicory after adding the garlic, mushrooms, and onions to the pan (before adding the milk) and it was a great addition.

It wasn't very flavorful. All you taste is butter and the salmon. I was really disappointed. Definitely won't make this again.

i added cheese and fresh mushrooms- changed to shell pasta too... but everything else was amazing! thanks. oh yeah, i also used canned salmon.

This came out well. I'd add a little more garlic. Will make it again.

Really nice simple recipe but I recommend making the smoked salmon yourself! it is really easy and no special equipment is needed.

This recipe is great with cold smoked salmon!

Really really yummy! I smoked my own salmon with recipe from this website. Didn't have onion, so I used garlic (2 cloves). I always try to substitute "white sauce" with canned soup, i used healhty request canned mushroom soup and about 1/2 cup of skim milk. Fresh romano cheese and also chopped up fresh basil to compliment the taste. There was no left over! Definitely a keeper.

Very creamy! Loved it.

Quite delicious and so easy! I added hot pepper flakes and black pepper, eliminated the cheese, and used some heavy cream along with the skim milk. I was too lazy to chop onion, so onion powder was substitued. The additional hot spices really added a nice interest to the recipe. It was really delicious and had that great smoky flavor. We ate it right up!

I've been making this exact thing for years. For those who were a bit disappointed, remember 2 things: the quality of the smoked salmon is key and you really have to cook the roux well, stirring. I use farfalle--bow ties and a little wine. A bit of chicken broth for extra flavor if I have some leftover but it is good without it too. Or a little clam juice. play with it.

I found the sauce too liquid so there should be either less milk or at least 2 more tbsp of flour

I tricked my nine year old daughter into thinking the smoked salmon was smoked ham in this dish. I am not a huge fan of salmon, but it is good for us. This is a good recipe. I only used a little butter and some EVOO, as well as skim milk. I exchanged the peas for roasted red bell peppers and also added some pepper flakes. I served this over whole wheat penne with a side of steamed lemon garlic green beans. Thanks for the recipe!

This dish was absolutely fabulous my husband and I loved it! However I am not a fan of peas so instead I used fresh mushrooms and zucchini. Also instead of Romano cheese I used Parmesan. Fantastic Recipe!

I made some alterations to this recipe which made it a 5/5. I used 2 cloves of garlic (added with the onion) instead of the powder, approximately 1 cup of romano cheese and I omitted the peas and mushrooms. Instead, I blanched 2 handfuls of asparagus and steamed 2 small zucchinis. I also added 1 tablespoon of curry powder when adding the flour as well as approximately 1 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper. We really enjoyed this and it will go into our regular recipe repitoire.

This recipe is so easy to make and it is wonderful. I also include more peas and salmon. I usually don't buy smoked salmon so I broiled fresh salmon for 10 minutes -- just need to add salt.

I substituted lightly steamed asparagus for the peas and it was delicious!

Using some suggested changes by others, my family really liked this one. I used fresh mushrooms, garlic, asparagus and dill; parmesan cheese; added a little red wine, pepper and salt and served over penne pasta. The smoked salmon was a nice change.

I thought this was a very tasty dish - light but filling. I used whole wheat penne to make it even healthier and used Smart Balance in place of butter. Did have to add a bit more skim milk (I use the skim milk plus - tastes like 2% but no fat) at the end. Very tasty, I do agree with other reviews this is nothing like a carbonara though.

I'm new to cooking and this dish was easy to make and delicious. It tasted better then something you'd get at a restaurant

I wasn't a fan of this recipe. It was too rich for my taste. I added crushed red pepper to mask the richness and it didn't help.

very good, especially for salmon lovers like my BF. instead of smoked salmon, i followed another reviewer and grilled a salmon fillet in the oven for about 20 min. i then flaked the fish and served it on top of the pasta. it was good, but i think smoked salmon would've achieved the taste intended by this recipe. will use smoked salmon next time.

I've made this twice, the first time I essentially followed the receipe minus the mushrooms. I did find it a bit bland. This is possibly because the salmon I used wasn't smoked so there wasn't enough salt. The second time I made this I altered the recipe a bit. I used frozen corn (didn't have peas). I also added some bacon bits + salt/pepper. For Cheese I used a mix of monterey Jack, cheddar and Mozz. I will say the second time around I liked the meal quite a bit better.

WOW!!! I made this tonight and we really enjoyed it. I made it even more low-fat by using only 4 tablespoons of butter. Seems like a very versatile recipe, too. You could easily substitute other veggies or seafood. This recipe is a keeper...thanks Dinah!!!

Excellent! When we were living in Alaska, we used this recipe all the time with our smoked salmon. I did double the peas (we all love them) and used fresh mushrooms instead. All in all, a great recipe!

Family liked this a lot...normally they aren't too crazy about smoked salmon. Unfortunately I did not know that until AFTER I brought 5 lbs of filets from Alaska. Only used one filet in this it was bigger probably 8 oz or so but it was plenty. Thanks for a good recipe to use up some of this fish-

So a friend gives us some smoked salmon every year that he catches and smokes himself. Pretty great, huh? But I wanted to do something different with it instead of "just eating it on crackers," as my boyfriend said. So saved by Allrecipes AGAIN. Loved this dish. Followed it as written. Still thinking about the flavors, AND SUPER FAST AND EASY for a busy weeknight.

I'm not sure three stars is fair. The recipe isn't bad, just ordinary. I used what I had in the refrigerator - less butter, real garlic, no mushrooms and whole milk. If anything those changes should have made it better. But it still seemed more like tuna casserole than a good pasta dish. And, although I really like tuna casserole, that is not what I was expecting.

I followed the recipe except I used parmesan instead of romano cheese and cream mixed with water instead of skim milk (didn't have milk). It's quite delicious and you don't need to add salt since the smoke salmon is kind of salty anyway.

Excellent! For the sauce I used about 4 tbsp butter, 1 1/2 cups whole milk, and a little under a cup of Parmesan.

I tweaked this recipe just a little. I used 3 tablespoons of butter and therefore less flour. I added a touch of black pepper and pesto flavoured smoked salmon. And I LOVED it. It was so creamy and delicious. I would definitely make it again.

I replaced the smoked salmon with tinned salmon and the peas with fresh asparagus and it was fantastic! I live in a share house and it was quick, easy and everyone loved it.

This was a big hit when I made it. It is flavorful, quick, easy, healthy...and delicious! This got rave reviews from all who tried it.

Not good. No flavor at all. Needed more salt and we used some hot pepper sauce to give it some kick. It got 2 stars b/c the kids actually enjoyed it. Won't make again

I followed the recipe, however I used all fresh ingredients. I pan grilled salmon, I did not use smoked. I used fresh mushrooms and garlic. I sauteed the mushrooms in butter, added the minced garlic then I added a bit more butter with the flour. I added white wine, to deglaze the pan a bit, then the milk, however I added half FF milk, and heavy cream. I grated the cheese right into the pan, and made sure it was well salted. The Salmon was added last after the pasta was added to the pan and mixed in, making sure not to fall apart.

I also substituted EVOO for some of the butter to make it healthy. It was still great! I also added some shrimp and used fresh mushrooms. I will be making it again. My husband loved it as well, but said it would have been better with all butter.

Use at least 1 c half and half and drier, not wetter salmon. Delicious!

I was disappointed with the sauce. There's no reason to thicken this with flour, as the result is a pasty sauce that distracts from the salmon.

I have used this recipe many times, modified to my personal taste. I use shallot instead of onion for a sweeter taste, semi skimmed milk instead of skimmed to give a richer taste, parmesan instead of romano cheese (more likely to have this in the fridge) and fresh mushroom instead of canned, no more hassle but more refined. Looks like I've changed a lot but it is only slight tweeks!

I have used this recipe for years now and I love it. Over time I have adapted it to suit my tastes...I always use fresh ingredients when I cook and substitute fresh onion, garlic, and mushrooms. I have found that sautéed vegetables make an excellent addition to this recipe. Tonight I used carrots, kale, red bell pepper, and mushrooms sautéed with olive oil then added when it asks to add the mushrooms. I also found out recently I can't tolerate gluten, and used brown rice pasta and gluten free baking flour as substitutions and it turned out awesome!

Great! I know I did well when my four year old eats all his dinner. Thanks!!

This was okay, but I probably won't make it again. My son loves pasta but didn't really care for it, and my husband didn't clean his plate like he normally does. No real complaints - just kind of blah.

I gave this a try to use up excess smoked salmon, and it turned out quite nice. I probably wouldn't put peas in it again (personal preference), and I used 1 garlic clove instead of the garlic powder (because I had one but not the other). I liked it a lot.

Overall- a nice recipe. I added some fresh dill and will probably tinker a bit more with it next time- will try fresh salmon and other veggies and spices.

The recipe was very easy make, tasted great, and made for excellent leftovers too.

Loved this recipe. I used both smoked and sauté salmon. It was Devine.

I'm still having problems with having no appetite, so this is Husband's review regarding the taste. I made this using a regular fresh salmon steak that I baked until done - about 20 mins - in the oven. I then flaked it, and added it to the creamy cheese pea sauce. Husband wolfed it down but said he would have liked it to be a little creamier and cheesier. I might make this again - half a pound of salmon goes a long way in this recipe.

OMG this recipe was so easy and delicious! I only used 4 tbs butter instead of 6, and I substituted chopped broccoli for the peas (I added it while the onion was cooking since it was raw). Husband LOVED it

So yummy! I needed a recipe without heavy cream and found this. I also used less butter, lemon zest and some fresh dill. Did the trick! One more preggo craving satisfied :)

I have made this before and just looked it up to make again. I smoke my own salmon so use that and have some fresh mushrooms so will use that also. I like some of the suggestions so will use less butter this time and I don't like skim milk so will use 1 or 2%. I also will use minced garlic. This is a great recipe for a quick weeknight!

This was awsome... it was too much for my husband and I to eat though. If you only have 2 people, cut the recipe in half.

This was good, it has a very light flavor. I used fresh mushrooms and spaghetti noodles instead because that's what I had on hand. A dash of salt and pepper when you serve it helps a lot. I might make this again.

Great, easy recipe. We loved it. The only thing was that my 3 year old didn't like it too much. I will make it again and have an alternative meal for him.

I used fresh garlic, broccoli, parmesan and sun dried tomatoes - in other words, I kept the idea of smoked salmon with pasta and added in the fresh ingredients I had on hand. Turned out great.

My husband loved it!!!

really good. I'm going to keep some smoked salmon on-hand from now on so I can have this whenever I'm in the mood.

I used canned salmon since smoked salmon is so expensive, omitted the peas, used fresh mushrooms, and parmesan cheese. I used olive oil to sub 3 tbsp of the butter. It had a nice, light flavor!

Great receipe! Only thing I changed was skim milk to low fat milk.

Very yummy, but the salmon taste was a bit much. Next time I'll try chicken.

This was great, easy fast and tastes great. Very much like a comfort food.

This was quick and easy but tasted like I worked hard on it. I will make this one again. I used fresh mushrooms and garlic. I will try the white wine next time.

Excellent. In trying to recreate a recipe from a local restaurant, I omitted the mushrooms and added proscuitto. I also thought w/ skim milk and only 2T flour, the sauce might be runny. So, I added a little more flour and used evap skim milk. Guess what? My sauce was too thick. :) Next time I'll follow the recipe exactly. I'm not sure that you really need the parmesan cheese though..... Can't wait to have the leftovers! (even my 5 year old took some to school for lunch today!)

Fabulous recipe! I cut WAY down on the butter, but added some Smart Balance. I used a fresh salmon fillet which I sprinkled with lemon juice, dill and pepper and baked at 400 for 5 minutes (not quite cooked through); then I cut up the salmon and added it to the sauce where it finished cooking. I didn't use mushrooms, but added some extra peas. Served over toast this was a delicious entree!

This is an excellent recipe. I modify it by not using mushrooms, I add a tablespoon of mustard - French or English depending on what's in my pantry and I flake a thick portion of wood roasted salmon rather than use the thin slices. This recipe is a staple in our home. Yum! :)

Used 2% milk, and a little more cheese. Added pepper for more seasoning. It was delicious!