I have fond memories of preparing and enjoying this dish I created 15 years ago. The richness of gorgonzola melted with white wine cream sauce and infused with smoked salmon and fresh crab makes this meal truly one of a kind. Even with the trend toward lighter pasta sauces, this dish is worth the indulgence on special occasions … and your guests will forever thank you for it.
Ingredients:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons shallots, minced
• 8 button white mushrooms, sliced
• 12 ounces fresh Dungeness crab meat
• 8 ounces Nova Scotia smoked salmon, sliced and pulled apart
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 8 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and large diced
• 1 pound dry or fresh fettuccine
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Zest of 1 whole lemon
• Salt and white pepper to taste
To Prepare:
In a medium sauce pan, heat butter to sizzling. Add shallots and sauté for two minutes. Next, add sliced mushrooms and sauté for a couple minutes. Add crab and salmon. Cook for about one minute until heated, but be careful not to overcook. Remove all ingredients from pan into a bowl, and set aside.
Using the same sauce pan, add dry white wine and reduce to a syrup consistency. Next, add cream and allow for a slight reduction for 15 minutes. Next, take the crumbled gorgonzola and slowly let the cheese melt into the cream sauce, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Once the cheese has melted, add tomatoes and simmer.
In a large pot, bring water to a boil and add salt. Cook fettuccine until al dente (firm to the bite). While waiting for the pasta to cook, add the crab, salmon and mushroom mixture to the cream sauce and simmer.
When the fettuccine is cooked, strain the pasta and add it to the cream sauce, allowing it to infuse with the pasta. Add chopped parsley and lemon zest to the sauce and plate the dish. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
This is my very favorite special occasion pasta dish, so I hope you try it for your next special occasion. I would love to hear how you like it. Please email me your comments at [email protected]. Bon Appétit!
Chef Howard Karp will teach non-credit college classes on Fish and Seafood March 3 and on Bruschetta Hors d’Oeuvres March 6. For more information or to enroll, call the FVCC Continuing Education Center at 756-3832, or visit www.fvcc.edu/continuingeducation.html.