Creamy Lemon and Herb Salmon Pasta

And the joy of a meal made for you by your kids, with a throwback to that time I had short spiky hair.

This is one of my favourite photos of my kids when they were young. It’s completely imperfect. One small person is out of focus, detritus from our new home’s ongoing completion in the background and a range of cooking mess fills the foreground. But it’s perfect. Their little faces are filled with joy their squishy little bodies squeezed onto one stool lit by the hot tropical Darwin sun streaming through the window delighting at the act of cooking together and, of course, the anticipation of a delicious dessert to come. It symbolises much of what was important to me when I first had children and imagined what I wanted for my family.

Many of us imagine scenes like this as we think about how we’ll raise our babies, many of whom try and fulfill those dreams. I obviously did but like a lot of parenting it wasn’t all lollipops and rainbows, as you can imagine. Between my idealistic imaginings of what cooking together would look like and the unpredictable shenanigans of excited little boys it often wasn’t the fairy tale I’d pictured. A metaphor for motherhood perhaps, but I digress. Though frustrating and often mystifying as to why I thought cooking with kids would be fun, I pushed on. Determined to create a family culture of a love for food and enough skills in the kitchen to be able to look after themselves and maybe even enjoy it we kept going. There was lots of ‘help’ making weekend pancakes, often dotted with shell fragments, ‘peeled’ carrots whose mosaic peeling added an interesting texture on meat and three veg nights and milk splashed on benches in the morning while little hands poured cereal with pronouncements of ‘I do’ from small but strident voices. But an interest and beginners skills we built.

At seven years of age Boy One announced he wanted to cook dinner on Mondays. “All by yourself?” I enquired. “Yes mummy, you sit there and watch,” he firmly announced pointing at the kitchen stool where he and his brother normally sat to eat their breakfast. Though sceptical and slightly terrified I capitulated and took my place on said stool. Fielding many questions and gently trying to offer suggestions, though mostly deflected, I watched as his attempts at a dinner selected from a children’s cookbook came together. Obviously, it was delicious and proudly gobbled up by a very proud boy and his very impressed younger brother. At the time we all happily ate a delicious dinner and were duly proud but in the whirl of everyday life with small humans it’s impact was not as great as it is today when I look back.

Fast forward almost 20 years and they both still cook.

Our first little chef still does his share of the cooking in his household. These days, from him, I field calls, often from the supermarket or the car enroute, asking for advice on substitutions or to check a recipe for an ingredient list he’s filling. The conversation may be punctuated with a ‘how’s your day’ check in or added suggestions for the recipe he’s heading home to make and always leaves me with a smile on my face. Later in the evening I may receive a text with a photo of said dish and other times a random unexpected one with a picture of him making gravy from scratch or a dish from our family cookbook. My work done.

Boy two, followed his brother’s example and also took to the wooden spoon…in the best way. Seeking a dinner of his choosing he also took over the kitchen as a young boy also banishing me from the cook’s side of the bench. Equally proud as his brother he too would present our dinner to us with a flourish, eating with self-satisfaction and swelling with pride at the empty plates and praise that followed. His interest and practices in the kitchen took on a more creative bent, a reflection of his imaginative view of the world. With abandon and, in my opinion, enormous courage he’d come home from high school announcing he was making macarons or a croquembouche, yes you read that correctly, not just choux puffs but the whole custard filled toffee encased tower. Like a mad professor and not constrained by his mother’s sometimes stifling perfectionism he’d take over the kitchen fuelled by my scepticism (which was born by my own kitchen failures of the past) and determination. Every time, when called to the kitchen to view the results, I’d find myself awed to discover near perfect results. Other times he’d get ‘creative’ when cooking for himself driven by his boundless curiosity resulting in what I’d call ‘boy food’ or just plain oddities. Mini quiches with a dob of Nutella on one occasion and re-imagined leftovers atop waffles made of frozen potato gems (tater tots) and showered in grated cheese de rigueur during the teen/covid years. But always creative, though not always dishes I was tempted by, as you can imagine.

So hopping in my time machine I arrive to now. Along with his partner, Boy Two also pulls his weight his household’s kitchen. Alongside his pescatarian partner they create interesting protein rich veg sides for his meat dish but that are hearty delicious meals for her pescatarian/vegetarian leanings. And obviously there’s wonderful fish and seafood dishes on high rotation as well.

On their most recent visit they offered to cook dinner for us. The evening was to be a ‘thanks for having us’ one accompanied by a wine from his collection. Sitting at the table inwardly reminiscing about his early forays in the kitchen cooking family dinners, I was interrupted in my reverie by a plate placed before me of long tender strands of aldente spaghetti folded with plump in season prawns cooked lightly in lashings of butter, sharp tangy lemon, wine and zingy fresh herbs. And all at once those early kitchen shenanigans crytalised into a new memory as a full stop to those hours in a messy sometimes chaotic kitchen to see all my food hopes for our boys coming full circle and complete.

It's a strange but wonderful feeling being cooked for by your grown-up children. Heartwarming and humbling all at once and more so to be inspired by them. Boy One is my go-to resource for cooking fish and Boy Two for inspiration spurring me to try flavours and combinations I may otherwise eschew. Which brings me to this week’s offering. A meal for two using some Two’s ideas from that delicious prawn pasta and some of my own ideas I offer you Creamy Lemon and Herb Salmon Pasta.

Makes 2 hearty serves

Ingredients:

150gm of dried pasta of your choice, whatever’s in the pantry is fine here

300 gm skinless sustainable salmon fillets cut into fork sized pieces lightly seasoned with salt and pepper

a glug of olive oil

20 gm butter

1 tsp lemon rind

1Tb lemon juice

1 Tbs salted capers rinsed and dried

1/3 c frozen baby peas thawed*

160 ml (2/3 c) thickened cream

2 tsp chopped fresh chives**

1 Tb chopped fresh dill**

¼ c lightly packed finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Method:

In a medium size pot set well salted water to boil. Once boiling add pasta and cook to aldente . Drain and set aside.

In a medium over medium heat, warm olive oil then add salmon pieces lightly browning on all sides. It’s fine if they’re not cooked all through.

Push salmon pieces to the side of the pan, reduce heat to low and add butter. Once just melted add rinsed and drained capers and lemon rind, stirring them for a minute until you have a waft of lemon fragrance, no more than a minute. Increase heat back to medium and stir salmon through the butter and lemon mixture. Add lemon juice, peas and herbs continuing to stir. Pour in cream, cheese and herbs and mix well. Gently tumble in cooked drained pasta and stir through to combine and warm and serve!

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Note: The subject of commercial salmon fisheries in Australia is a controversial one. I’m not going to lecture on your choices. As with all cooking buy the best you can and if you don’t wish to buy salmon use the fish of your choice. I’ve not made it with any other fish but suggest you aim for a firm fleshed type to prevent flaking and falling apart during cooking. You do you and enjoy.

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* I just do this is a bowl of boiling water from a boiled kettle and drain. They’ll thaw in a couple of minutes while you prep other items.

**If fresh herbs are unavailable and you’re using dried use half the quantity of fresh.

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Reading

~ A Thousand Feasts by the lovely Nigel Slater. Gentle and whimsical bite sized essays on his food memories and adventures.

Eating:

~ Breakfast with my favourite locally roasted coffee beans. A small family business owned by a hard working young couple, their coffee is exceptional all available by mail order. Their little coffee shop roastery has incredible house made pastries too if you’re nearby.

Enjoy your weekend friends,

S x