I have been playing around lately with blended nuts and seeds as a base for creamy dips and dressings – sunflower seeds blended into dips, cashews blended into a cheesey filling for stuffed zucchini flowers. Using nuts and seeds not only adds depth and flavour, it also provides added nutrients to the dish.
After reading Heidi’s Horseradish dressing the other day, I realised that I hadn’t had one of my favorite pasta dishes in a while. The original recipe here belongs to my friend Tess (if you haven’t checked out her other delicious salmon recipe on here, I strongly suggest you do, its a winner!)
I decided to change it around a little and use blended cashews in place of sour cream for the horseradish sauce. Originally I thought I would just use zucchini pasta as I envisioned the sauce being quite heavy, but the end product was actually quite light (plus I was quite hungry!) so I used a combination of spiralised zucchini and wholewheat pasta.
The end result was amazing, horseradish and salmon compliment each other beautifully and if you’re a fan of either I strongly suggest you give this dish a go.
*Also, if you haven’t entered my competition to enter a copy of Julia Mueller’s amazing new cookbook Delicious Probiotic Drinks, there’s still time. Head over to my previous post here and leave me a comment for your chance to win.
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Smoked salmon, zucchini and horseradish pasta
Variations on this dish: vegetarians/vegans can omit the salmon and double the amount of fried zucchini; those who are gluten or grain free can replace the pasta completely with spiralised zucchini
Horseradish dressing
1/3 cup cashews
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 Tbsp horseradish
3 Tbsp water
1/2 Tbsp sugar (or stevia)
Salt and pepper to taste
100g thin spaghetti
2 small zucchini, one sliced, one spiralised
2 Tbsp capers
150g hot smoked salmon, flaked
To make the cashew dressing, place the cashews in a bowl with 1 cup of water. Allow to sit for at least 6 hours, then add to a food processor with the other dressing ingredients and process until combined and creamy.
Heat a large frypan over medium to high heat and add a little oil. Add the sliced zucchini and fry a few minutes on each side until golden brown.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to packet directions. Add the zucchini noodles in the last minute of cooking, and then drain and allow to cool slightly. Add the pasta, fried zucchini, salmon and capers to a bowl and toss to combine. Stir through the dressing, and serve topped with extra capers and cracked black pepper.
Serves 2
This looks DELICIOUS!!!! I love love LOVE salmon!! It’s so amazing!! And I just found your blog!! It is so lovely! :) I hope that you have a great weekend!
Thank you Cailee – And thanks for dropping by! Hope you have a great weekend also :)
It’s great adding nuts to recipes. I love the addition of cashews in this lovely dish.
Zucchini noodles sound so delicious and light and healthy. I’ve been wanting to make it for a long time, but don’t really know how to. How to you make them?
Hi Josefine – you can use a spiraliser, but I just use a peeler which has teeth on one side (this is the exact one I have – Zyliss Julienne Peeler
You then just run it down the zucchini with the flat side closest to the zucchini, this cuts a thin slice and the top jaggered side cut this into thin strands. So quick and easy! You can then eat the “pasta” raw with a dressing, blanch it in boiling water, or fry it in a little oil :)
This looks amazing! Great photos. :) I love horseradish and what a great idea to add it to a pasta sauce. I’m really looking forward to trying this one! Just need a spiralizer … Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Sharon :) I dont own a spiralizer either (see the comment above) but would love to get one, it might have to be my next kitchen purchase I think. The peeler works fine for zucchinis, but havent had much luck using the same method on harder vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes. Hope you like the pasta :)
Such beautiful photographs! And the pasta sounds so yummy!
Thanks Lillian :)
I love love love salmon + horseradish together, so I defintiely need to give this a go. It sounds so delicious! Also, your pictures are absolutely gorgeous – I love the lighting!
This sounds yummy, always looking for new recipes to try…Thanks for sharing this…
Simon
Wow – this looks amazing! I love fresh, light dishes like this. Pinned!
Thanks Kristi :)
I bought my first ever horseradish root today, and would like to use it in this recipe; but it being almost winter in my half of the globe, zucchinis are no longer in season. I keep wracking my brain what might be a good substitute for it here (I simply insist on including veggies!), but nothing really rings like a good match. Can you help with ideas? Thanks!
Hi Tea! I would probably omit the spiralised zucchini completely, and just have pasta, but for adding a veggie you could try thinly slicing and frying some celeriac or Jerusalem artichoke? Or even some fried kale could work nicely here :)