Scandi salmon pasta bake
Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
Scandi salmon pasta bake
A gloriously cheesy pasta bake inspired by the Nordic salmon dish gravlax
Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
896Kcal
Fat
47gr
Saturates
27gr
Carbs
81gr
Sugars
8gr
Fibre
6gr
Protein
28gr
Salt
1.5gr
Esther Clark
Esther is a food writer and stylist based in London. Prior to becoming a writer, she worked as a chef on a farm in rural Tuscany before eating her way around the rest of Italy. At home she doodles little food illustrations and loves to eat crispy roast chicken, sandwiches stuffed with pickles and scoops of creamy pistachio gelato.
See more of Esther Clark’s recipes
Esther Clark
Esther is a food writer and stylist based in London. Prior to becoming a writer, she worked as a chef on a farm in rural Tuscany before eating her way around the rest of Italy. At home she doodles little food illustrations and loves to eat crispy roast chicken, sandwiches stuffed with pickles and scoops of creamy pistachio gelato.
See more of Esther Clark’s recipes
Ingredients
- 500g Taste the Difference dried fusilloni or other pasta shapes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 110g unsalted butter
- 2 fennel bulbs, finely sliced, fronds reserved
- 6 tbsp plain flour
- 200ml dry white wine
- 600ml whole milk
- 125ml double cream
- 6 heaped tbsp full fat crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 lemons
- 1 x 20g pack dill, finely chopped
- 200g smoked salmon or gravlax, roughly chopped
- 75g Gruyère or Comté cheese, coarsely grated
- 20g panko or other dried breadcrumbs
Step by step
Get ahead
Assemble the pasta bake the day before, adding an extra 150ml milk to the sauce. Cool, cover and chill. Bake for an extra 10-15 mins from chilled.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7. Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water until al dente, then drain.
- Heat the oil and 30g butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the sliced fennel and a pinch of salt and fry gently for 10-12 minutes until beginning to soften and caramelise. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add almost all of the remaining butter to the pan (leaving about a tablespoon behind), swirling it around until it begins to foam. Mix in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. Return to the heat and cook for 3 minutes over a medium heat, stirring continuously until it begins to thicken. Whisk in the double cream, crème fraîche, mustard, zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ lemon, season to taste and set aside.
- Gently stir the fennel, dill, smoked salmon and half the cheese through the white sauce, then mix in the drained pasta. Tip into an ovenproof dish.
- Melt the reserved butter. Top the pasta with the breadcrumbs, drizzle over the butter and scatter on the rest of the cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.
- Scatter the fennel fronds and the zest of 1 lemon over the bake to serve.
