This Smoked Salmon Pasta Bake is creamy, cheesy, and full of umami from the woodland mushrooms. It's a great centrepiece for your festive table, I hope you love it!
My mum always used to make smoked salmon pasta when we were little, and this pasta bake with woodland mushrooms is such a nostalgic dish! It's really simple to make, requiring only 20 minutes of your time before going into the oven to bake!
If you're a fan of pasta bakes, check out my creamy chicken and broccoli pasta bake or my old fashioned Mac and cheese recipe.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
Onion: we're using white onion for this recipe, but you could use red onion too or shallots.
Garlic: fresh garlic is always best in my opinion. If you've only got garlic granules, you can use ½ teaspoon.
Mushrooms: I love using a variety of mushrooms in this recipe. I bought woodland mushrooms which includes an array of mushrooms. You could go for oyster, button, chestnut etc.
Capers: we're using jarred capers. They are delicious and salty and are an essential addition to this recipe!
Soy sauce: this also acts as a salty seasoning. You can use either light or dark soy sauce.
For the cheese sauce: you'll need salted butter and flour for the base of the cheese sauce, then we'll go in with milk, followed by chicken stock (you could use fish stock). We're then going in with cheddar cheese for seasoning.
Smoked salmon: I'm just using regular smoked salmon from my local supermarket.
Pasta: spirali is my favourite pasta to use for this dish, but you could use macaroni.
Cheese: we need a mixture of grated mozzarella, whole mozzarella, and parmesan. Gruyere would be a great alternative for the topping if you fancy something different!
Toppings: this is completely up to you really, but I love topping the smoked salmon pasta bake with fresh dill and grated lemon zest.
The full list of ingredients and measurements is at the bottom of this blog, just scroll down to find the recipe card!
Step by Step Instructions with Photos
Step 1: Place an oven-proof pan on medium heat and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and capers. Fry for 5 minutes, then add in soy sauce and black pepper. Stir fry for another 10 minutes until softened and aromatic.
Step 2: Meanwhile, you want to make your cheese sauce and cook your pasta in boiling water for 7 minutes (then drain and set aside). For the cheese sauce, place a saucepan on medium heat and add in the butter. Once melted, add in the flour and whisk until a pasta has formed. Gradually add in the milk (100ml at a time), whisking in-between until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth. Pour in the chicken stock, followed by the cheddar cheese. Season with salt and black pepper according to your preferences. Set aside.
Step 3: Preheat the oven to 180c fan / 390F. In the oven dish, pour in the cooked pasta, smoked salmon, cheese sauce, grated mozzarella, and grated parmesan. Stir to combine.
Step 4: Top the pasta with torn whole mozzarella and the rest of the parmesan. Cover with tinned foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and place under the grill for 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Step 5: Once the smoked salmon pasta is golden and bubbling, remove from the oven and top with fresh dill and grated lemon zest.
FAQs
Because we're using capers and soy sauce, I'd highly recommend going easy on the salt. I personally didn't use any in the mushroom mixture, but I did use some in the cheese sauce.
I love using a mixture of oyster, shimeji and button mushrooms.
For sure!
If you tried this Smoked Salmon Pasta Bake or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Smoked Salmon Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 300 g mixed mushrooms torn or roughly chopped
- 40 g capers
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 50 g salted butter
- 50 g all purpose flour
- 500 ml milk
- 300 ml chicken stock
- 100 g grated cheddar cheese
- 200 g smoked salmon sliced
- 300 g spirali pasta cooked for 7 minutes in salted boiling water
- 100 g mozzarella cheese grated
- 20 g grated parmesan
- 125 g mozzarella whole cheese, torn for the topping
- fresh dill
- lemon zest
Instructions
- Place an oven-proof pan on medium heat and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and capers. Fry for 5 minutes, then add in soy sauce and ground black pepper. Stir fry for another 10 minutes until softened and aromatic.
- Meanwhile, you want to make your cheese sauce and cook your pasta in boiling water for 7 minutes (then drain and set aside). For the cheese sauce, place a saucepan on medium heat and add in the butter. Once melted, add in the flour and whisk until a paste has formed. Gradually add in the milk (100ml at a time), whisking in-between until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth. Pour in the chicken stock, followed by the cheddar cheese. Season with salt and black pepper according to your preferences. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180c fan / 390F. In the oven dish on top of the mushroom mixture, add in the cooked pasta, smoked salmon, cheese sauce, grated mozzarella, and half the grated parmesan. Stir to combine.
- Top the pasta with torn whole mozzarella and the rest of the parmesan. Cover with tinned foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and place under the grill for 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
- Once the smoked salmon pasta is golden and bubbling, remove from the oven and top with fresh dill and grated lemon zest.
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