Smoked Salmon, Broccoli, and Pasta

I first read about this dish from my relative and fellow food writer, Silvia Todesco. She is an Italian living in the US and she has a beautiful and most inspiring website dedicated to authentic Italian cooking.  Her website is http://italiangoodness.net/. 

Recently, she had a post about smoked salmon and pasta.  I was intrigued because my son can eat smoked salmon and it is generally well received by all at the dinner table.  Her recipe was very simple and easy to make.  To make it my own, I added some garlic, broccoli, and fresh parsley and modified the recipe to make it dairy and gluten free.  Even with the substitutions and additions, this meal is very easy to make and is a crowd pleaser for all ages.

Smoked Salmon, Broccoli, and Pasta

1, 16 ounce package of smoked salmon

1 package cooked gluten free pasta or pasta of choice

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

2-3 teaspoons of olive oil

1, 16 ounce package of premium frozen broccoli flowerets

1 container of cream cheese (Daiya brand for dairy free or Philly for full dairy diets)

½ cup to 1 cup of broth or pasta water

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta as directed, reserving pasta water.

Sauté onions and garlic, in olive oil, until softened.  Add broccoli, cover and steam until broccoli is mostly cooked.  Add smoked salmon and crumble in the pan into bite sized pieces.  Add ½ cup of pasta water or broth with cream cheese to the pan.  Stir continuously until cream cheese softens.  Continue to add pasta water until desired consistency of the cream sauce is obtained.

Serve with pasta and top with fresh parsley.

Ice Cream Pie

Madeline and Maggie

My daughter had a birthday over the weekend and her only request was to have ice cream pie instead of cake.  Ice Cream Pie is a dessert that it is in the family.  My mother in law made it for my husband’s birthday, and my daughter has been looking forward to making her own for months.

She has an allergy to eggs and food made with eggs, so ice cream pie is a great alternative to cake.  We just made sure to buy ice cream without egg in the ingredients.  It is also gluten free and nut-free.  

Her ice cream pie was made in a deep, round, 8 inch casserole dish with a layer of vanilla ice cream, followed by an entire 5 ounce jar of hot fudge sauce, and topped with a layer of sea salt caramel truffle ice cream, topped with whipped cream. 

This clearly was not going to work for my son with a dairy allergy, but I wanted for him to enjoy ice cream pie along with the rest of the family.  I made a version for him that is dairy free and made entirely of coconut ice cream.  I purchased the chocolate coconut ice cream from the store, but decided to make a vanilla version at home.  His ice cream pie was made in a similar fashion, but on a smaller scale and with Hershey’s chocolate syrup rather than hot fudge sauce.  It goes a little like this:

Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream

Cream of Coconut 

1 can of cream of coconut
½ cup of sugar

1 cup rice milk

½ cup coconut yogurt (optional)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Combine sugar and rice milk over low heat, stir until dissolved.  Add cream of coconut, yogurt, and vanilla.  Chill in freezer for 30-60 minutes. 

Pour contents into an ice cream machine and follow instructions for churning ice cream.  The machine will need to run for about 30-45 minutes.

Coconut Ice Cream Pie

Ice Cream Pie-Deep Dish

2    cups ice cream-your choice

One, 5 ounce of hot fudge sauce

2    cups of a different flavor ice cream

Whipped cream

Place a layer of ice cream in the bottom of a round 8 or 9 inch casserole dish.  Pour a layer of hot fudge sauce over ice cream.  Chill in freezer for 30-60 minutes.  Once the pie is chilled, place another layer of ice cream on top of the fudge.  Chill in freezer until ready to serve.  Add whipped topping and serve. 

10-12 servings.

Follow the same directions for the coconut ice cream pie.  I layered mine with vanilla, Hershey’s, then chocolate coconut ice cream.