Pasta with Spring Onionsand Smoked Salmon Cream Sauce

from Gourmet, May 1982
re-organized by Katherine Koelsch Kriken

serves 8

3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups spring onions, thinly julienned in 3-inch lengthwise ribbons (purple-white bulb to pale green part of tops)
white pepper and salt to taste
2 tablespoons salt for boiling water
1/2 pound smoked Norwegian salmon, sliced 1/4 inch thick and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
pasta of your choice (capellini or linguini is best)
lemon zest

In a large heavy skillet melt the butter over moderate heat, add the cream, and bring the liquid to a boil, whisking. Reduce the mixture over moderately high heat, add spring onions, stirring gently and occasionally for 3 minutes, or until mixture is thickened. Add the white pepper and salt to taste, and keep the sauce warm.

In a kettle bring 8 quarts of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook it according to directions. Drain the pasta well and transfer it to the sauce in the skillet. Add the smoked salmon and heat the mixture over low heat, tossing it to coat the pasta with the sauce until it is just heated through. Transfer to heated platter. Garnish generously with lemon zest (Eurekas or Meyers) to taste.

According to preference, home-made scallion pasta can be substituted for conventional commercial. The intense flavor and color of spring onions are emphasized by combining the onions in sauce with salmon ribbons. We find Norwegian salmon gives the right flavor to this recipe. A birthday luncheon favorite for John "Son of Norway" Kriken on the dock of Soda Bay.