Here we are, midway through the week and for the recipe of the day I want to share with you California style pasta. This dish was created out of necessity last night. Lynette and I wanted to make use of some leftover salmon that we had cooked the previous evening. We also wanted/needed to make a dent in our generous supply of fresh spinach so that it wouldn’t go to waste. Taking stock of the rest of our food inventory, we saw pasta, olives, and parmigiana and decided to make a California style pasta.

As general rule/slice of advice, when you’re using what you have to come up with a dish for your meal, it’s helpful to think of a region or type of cuisine. Sticking to a certain flavor profile gives cohesiveness to the flavor of the dish that you create.  We had a lot of odds and ends that can easily go into a pasta and taste great.  In order to reel it in—prevent it from becoming everything but the kitchen sink pasta—we decided to use some ingredients common in California cuisine. And that’s how this California style pasta was created.  Yesterday I had the day off of work and I generally like to keep cooking on my days off low key with a minimal clean up while still being really enjoyable. The nice thing about this California style pasta is that we made it using just one pan. That makes the clean up really easy which is a major bonus in my book.

Okay, let’s get to it! Give this pasta a try and let me know in the comments below how you like it and your strategies for using what you have in the best way possible.

California Style Pasta Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Farfalle pasta

• 1 1/2 cups shredded salmon (seared)

• 4 cups fresh spinach

• 1/4 cup chopped olives

• 1/2 cup shredded parmigiana cheese

• 1/4 cup olive oil

California Style Pasta Instructions

• Drizzle a pan with olive oil.  On medium heat, cook your salmon filets, approximately 3 minutes on each side. Remove salmon from pan and set aside on a dish.

• Add spinach and olives to the pan. Sauté until cooked. Place prepared spinach and olives in a dish and set aside.

• Rinse the pan and add water and salt, bringing it to a boil. Add pasta, making sure there is enough water to fully cover the pasta. Allow to cook.

• While the pasta is cooking, place latex gloves on hands and remove the skin from your salmon. Once the skin is removed, shred the salmon with your hands

• Once the water begins to evaporate, bring heat to a low simmer and occasionally stir your pasta. *Before pasta gets cooked to the point where it’s ready to let the water evaporate, you may have to add a little more water. It’s best/easier to add water as needed rather than to have to take it out. Pay attention to your pasta. Once the noodles are cooked and there is only a little bit of water remaining in the pan add olive oil, salmon, spinach and olive to your pasta. The remaining water will help add a layer of creamy starch to the pasta. Last, add your fresh parmigiana. Plate and serve.