5:30 Challenge: Quick Salmon and Pasta

Quick Salmon and Pasta

To make the meal

Marinated tomato and cucumber salad

Avondale Estates resident Mary Civille sent in this recipe for a lovely summertime lunch or dinner. If your garden is producing lots of basil right now, this is a great way to use it up, or since pesto can be made at any time of the year, you can serve this pasta all year long.

Civille likes fresh spinach pasta, which she finds at the DeKalb Farmers Market. If you can’t find fresh, you could certainly substitute dried pasta.

Civille makes her own pesto using 2 cups fresh basil leaves, 1 large clove garlic, 1 cup Parmesan and 1/3 cup pine nuts. She uses a food processor to turn this into a puree and then drizzles in 1/2 cup olive oil to make a paste, and seasons to taste with salt and pepper.

Her tip for assuring perfectly dry basil leaves? She uses her salad spinner. Any leftover pesto goes into the freezer in small baby food jars, and will thaw on the counter in about an hour. She uses pesto with all manner of vegetables or turns it into a salad dressing by adding some oil and lemon juice. Another good use for pesto? Civille likes it on sandwiches instead of other condiments such as mustard or mayonnaise.

Take the 5:30 Challenge. If you have a great-tasting main-dish recipe that uses no more than five ingredients and can be made in 30 minutes or less, tell us. (Salt, pepper, water and oil for greasing a pan don’t need to be included in the ingredient count.) You can also suggest a side dish if it can be made within the same time. Send recipes with your name, address and phone number to fivethirty@ajc.com.

Quick Salmon and Pasta

Hands on: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Serves: 3

If you can’t find fresh spinach pasta, dried will work fine. Just allow a little more time for cooking.

1 (8-ounce) package fresh spinach linguine

3/4 pound salmon fillets

1/2 cup pesto

Parmesan, for garnish, if desired

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, season both sides of salmon fillets with salt and freshly ground pepper.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until very hot and carefully arrange fillets, skin side down. Cook 4 minutes or until skin is well browned, then turn. Reduce heat and saute salmon until just done, about 4 minutes.

When pasta is ready, drain and toss in a large bowl with pesto. Divide between three plates. Remove skin from fillets and arrange on top of pasta. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan if desired.

Per serving: 719 calories (percent of calories from fat, 31), 45 grams protein, 82 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber, 26 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 71 milligrams cholesterol, 392 milligrams sodium.