With the slightly warmer weather enticing us to sit outside through to the early evening, it’s time again to bring out the nibbly platters. A little cheese, a few olives, some cured meats… all the things that go perfectly with a chilled glass of white or rosé! My current favourite is to include a fillet of smoked trout or salmon on the platter, from the ‘Eden Smokehouse’ (their beautiful smoked seafood products are available, I believe, throughout most of NSW and the ACT in Australia). Though I’m sure that in your part of the world, there will be something of a similar nature that will work just as well.
The other evening, I discovered that smoked trout also goes brilliantly tossed through with some pasta, and a few other simple ingredients. A quick, stylish dish, that requires minimal time cooking (something that will be much appreciated as it warms up even further throughout the summer months). The toasted almonds added at the very end, add a wonderful taste and texture to the dish, so be sure to have some on hand.
Smoke Trout and Almond Linguine | Gather and Graze
- 400g Linguine (or other long pasta)
- 15g/1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 Garlic Cloves (finely sliced)
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 1 Tablespoon Wholegrain Mustard
- 250ml/1 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1-2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper
- 200g Fillet of Smoked Trout (or Salmon)
- Handful of Chopped Italian Parsley (and/or Chives)
- Large Handful of (Toasted) Slivered Almonds
Place a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.
While you’re waiting for the water to come to the boil, place the cream, lemon zest and mustard into a small mixing bowl. Season with a little sea salt and black pepper, stir to combine and then set aside for the moment.
Flake the smoked trout and also set aside.
When the pasta water has come to the boil, stir in some sea salt and add the pasta, cooking until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, place a frypan over low/medium heat. Add the butter to the pan and when the butter has stopped foaming, add the garlic and fry gently for a couple of minutes. Now stir in the cream mixture and allow to simmer gently for about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in the lemon juice and the flaked smoked trout and continue to cook for another minute or two, until the trout is warmed through. Check for seasoning and adjust with sea salt, pepper or lemon juice if required.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and add it to the sauce, stirring gently to coat each strand.
Place into bowls or a serving dish and top with the fresh, chopped herbs and toasted almonds. Serve immediately.
Perfect with a glass of white wine and a loaf of crusty Italian bread on the side.
Gather & Graze 
Came across your blog, love this recipe! I generally love fish, but combining fish with pasta is a rare thing in my kitchen! It will change with your recipe I think 🙂
That’s fabulous to hear… a warm welcome to Gather and Graze and thank you so much for your kind comment. Cheers, Margot
This dish looks delicious! I love using pasta as a way to stretch a dollar by adding protein- you need less of the meat/fish than you would if it were a solid piece with a side dish. I’ve never had trout with pasta, so this sounds particularly interesting. Feel free to check out my blog, I write about how to live a clean and healthy lifestyle in the United States 🙂 Looking forward to reading more from you!
The lovely thing about using the smoked trout is that you can just toss it through at the end to warm it through – so very easy and fast, but such a beautiful flavour when combined with the lemon, mustard, cream and garlic! I look forward to better exploring ‘Two Peas & A Wad’ in the next day or two – just had a very quick look at your ‘About’ page and enjoyed reading about what led you to writing a blog. Such a great message to get out there to the rest of the world! 🙂 Margot
Thank you so much! Learning and adopting the new lifestyle was the silver lining to my issues- I’m still recovering, 11 months in, but I’m making progress!
This looks delicious, what a perfect supper. A real treat at the end of the day to have something like this with a glass of wine – a reward for the work of the day!
Thanks very much Anna! Lovely to have those little rewards at the end of the day, isn’t it!?
Reblogged this on shopscoop.co.za.
Lovely – thank you! Margot
This is a wonderful pasta dish and my favorite type of food. Yum!
Thanks Azita – we LOVE pasta here… always looking for new ways of serving it!
This sounds and looks delightful, just the thing for warmer weather. I also love adding toasted almonds to pasta and all kinds of things.
Thanks so much! The crunch (and flavour!) from those almonds is a must – I’ll be tossing them into all sorts of things as well from now. 🙂
Noticed this earlier on FB, but as usual I very seldom look at anything on there. Always preferring to wait until later. This happens to have two of my favourite things on the one plate! But haven’t seen smoked trout in ages. And don’t really like cooking with smoked salmon. Darn! Although, there were very fresh looking rainbow trout in my local store. Hmm, will have a look tomorrow 🙂
It’s a pretty versatile recipe, so you could easily add something else instead of the trout… Prawns… scallops… or a vegetarian version with slices of snow peas (mangetout) or zucchini would also work really well. Anyway, just a thought, while you wait for the smoked trout to come back in – which hopefully it will! 🙂
Just… wow. This looks incredible. I am a huge fan of any kind of smoked fish, though I don’t think Eden is available here in WA. Wah. That’s not going to stop me from making this dish though. It sounds so delicious with the creamy sauce and the textural addition of the almonds. Gorgeous photos too! x
Thanks Laura – I did scan the Eden Smokehouse’s website for where people might find their products, but at this stage looks pretty much to be just NSW and ACT. I’m sure though that your gorgeous deli down at Cottesloe will have some delectable offerings to choose from! So lovely to hear from you. Margot
I’ve always combined smoked salmon with pasta, using trout sounds delicious! Love, too, your “dressing”. Our temps are the reverse of yours, with colder weather on its way, but in this house, pasta is always in season. I will definitely be giving your dish a try, Margot, and am pinning it for safe-keeping. Thank you.
Haha, pasta is always in season here at our place too John! 🙂 So very versatile! Absolutely no ‘Paleo’ diet for me!
I think it’s the almonds that are a big stand-out for me in this dish though – without them it wouldn’t be quite so lovely! Margot
What a lovely pasta dish Margot! You know, smoked trout is delicious. I don’t have it often, going for smoked salmon instead, but I really should give it a try every now and then. Especially as you did with your pasta.
Lidia, it would be wonderful with either trout or salmon – use whichever one you have to hand, or prefer… Great to interchange between the two! I was also just thinking that some strips of zucchini/courgette would work so well in this dish also! Hmmm, next time…
Trout and almonds go together beautifully, my Mom used to make trout almondine, it’s delicious and this brought back great memories for me, I love that you made this into a pasta dish, Sounds so good!
I find it so lovely to hear of dishes that evoke wonderful memories from people’s childhoods – food that was prepared lovingly for the family and that to this day still makes you happy just thinking about it! I very much want to explore more of those types of dishes in the year to come. Thanks Suzanne! 🙂
This is exactly the type of dish I like to cook Margot, quick, easy but with a punch of flavour from beautiful ingredients. Love the trout and almond combination!
Thanks Karen – me too! 🙂 When it’s a busy week, these types of dishes allow me to feel nourished, but not exhausted from being in the kitchen all evening. A win-win situation!
I used to be able to order trout (fresh, smoked…) through my local CSA, but they haven’t been offering it in ages, and so I haven’t eaten trout in ages 😦 It is one of my favorite fish, and your recipe looks delicious! I love the combination of trout and almonds, but have never tried it on pasta. Great idea!
Trout and almonds do complement each other so well, don’t they?! And butter… a little butter never goes astray either! I hope you manage to find some more trout sometime soon. 🙂 Margot