Pasta with Salmon Cream Sauce

This is weeknight pasta at its most forgiving: a quick béchamel with sauteed onion, a tin of red sockeye salmon broken into chunks, and a handful of sweet peas folded in at the end. Everything happens in the time it takes the penne to boil.

Go red sockeye if you can. Its firmer texture and deeper color read much better against the pale sauce than pink salmon, and the flavor carries without needing extra seasoning. The oily salmon juices from the can go in too; they’re loaded with flavor and should never be drained down the sink.

Making the sauce is basic technique worth getting right. Cook the flour in the butter for a full thirty seconds before adding milk, or the finished sauce will taste raw and chalky. Whisk the milk in while the roux is still hot so it incorporates smoothly.

Parmesan goes in last, off the heat, so it melts without turning grainy or stringy.

Kitchen Tips

• Frozen peas work better than canned here; they pop with sweetness instead of turning mushy.
• Don’t skip cooking the roux even if it seems fussy; it’s the difference between velvety and pasty sauce.
• Reserve a splash of pasta water to loosen the sauce if it tightens up.
• A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg in the béchamel is the old French trick that lifts the whole dish.

Variations

• Use canned tuna or smoked salmon for a different take.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a scatter of fresh dill at the end for a brighter finish.
• Stir in baby spinach or arugula with the peas for extra greens.