Creamy Pesto Pasta with Salmon, Asparagus and Spinach

Creamy Pesto Pasta with Salmon, Asparagus and Spinach

Short cut for this recipe is to purchased the spinach & ricotta fresh Agnolotti from the cold section of your supermarket... looks hard and awful but if cooked for longer than they recommend it comes up wonderful. That said I have made my own pesto because it is so simple I can't bring myself to buy this...make the pesto prior to commencing the cooking process. 

• To create your pesto place into your whiz machine fresh basil, pine nuts, finely grated Romano or Parmesan cheese and enough olive oil to create the desired consistency.

Three things at once should keep everyone busy making this dish but worth the small amount of juggling...  

1. Boil your pasta until soft and wonderful...probably closer to 12 minutes than the recommended 6 and in the last 3 minutes pop in your asparagus spears. 
2. Gently pan fry your fresh lightly seasoned salmon until just cooked as this will continue to cook in the hot pasta. Please take care not to over cook the delectable portion of melt in your mouth heaven...dry salmon is yuk!
3. In another large fry pan soft fry lots of thinly sliced spring onions and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic. Then add 2 large spoons of pesto and 1/2 tub of thickened cream. Bring it all together by adding the cooked drained pasta (reserve a little water), asparagus, broken up cooked salmon and two large handful of fresh baby spinach. Cover and allow to wilt. Finally just before serving add some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce needs thinning.