Last night for dinner I made a new pasta recipe. I based it on a recipe from the May 2010 issue of Cooking Light – spring linguine with basil. But then modified it (quite a bit) to use what I had on hand/for our tastes. I knew I wanted to make a pasta with salmon and this looked so simple…and like something I could easily add seafood to. And it was! And very good!! We all liked it. A light, healthy, quick prep meal. I’ll post the original recipe and my mods.

Spring Linguine with Basil
Salmon, Pea and Spinach Pasta

9 oz. uncooked fresh linguine (I used about 8oz. organic whole wheat spaghetti)
1 cup shelled fresh green peas (I used about 1 1/2 cups frozen organic peas)
(I also added some frozen organic chopped spinach)
4 tsp. EVOO
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (I skipped this)
1/2 tsp. salt (I used more than this)
1/4 tsp. pepper (I skipped this)
(I added garlic powder)
(I added 1 small can of salmon, broken up)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil (I used dried since I don’t have my fresh basil yet)
2 oz. shaved fresh Paremigiano-Reggiano cheese (I used fresh parmesan)
(I added some chopped crispy pecans)

Cook pasta. Add peas (and spinach) to pasta during the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta liquid.

Heat oil and butter in pan over medium heat 1 min. Remove from heat (I didn’t do this…I let it keep cooking with the pasta in the pan for a few min.); stir in pasta mixture, pasta water, juice, salt and pepper (and garlic powder, dried basil and salmon). Toss well.

Divide into 4 bowls. Top each with 1 Tbsp. basil and 2 Tbsp. cheese (and 1 oz. pecans).