1/2 a box of Penne + 1/2 a smoked fish + 1/2 pint of cream = Awesome

Tonight Jennie and I had a group golf lesson, so we got home about 7:30, hungry. I opened the fridge and saw we still had half a fillet of smoked Lake Superior lake trout and a half-used pint of heavy cream that was going bad fast. Suddenly, it hit me like an Asian Flying Carp: These two halves would make a whole. I would make pasta with trout in cream sauce.

I checked out our pasta situation, hoping we had some linguine or at least spaghetti - we had, naturally, half a box of penne. First I cooked the penne (using a new "quick" method I learned listening to The Splendid Table - you throw the pasta right in at the beginning with the cold water). When the pasta was almost done, I heated some olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat and added two cloves of minced garlic for about a minute. Then I drained the pasta (leaving just a touch of pasta water so that its starch would thicken the sauce later on) and added it to the saute pan. Next, I poured in the cream, added the trout (separated from the skin and flaked into pieces), used a scissors to snip some fresh chives, shook a few shakes of dried thyme, and grated some fresh parmesan cheese into the pan.

After cooking for about 2-3 minutes, the sauce thickened and the smoky, creamy wonder was ready to eat. Jennie whipped up a salad with mixed greens, hydroponic Wisconsin tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, and an apple cider vinagrette.

How was it? Really rich and smoky, and ridiculously good. I will be making this instant favorite again very soon.

Pasta with Smoked Lake Trout and Parmesan Cream Sauce
(Serves about 3)

1/2 pound of pasta

2 T. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 a fillet of smoked lake trout, flaked

1/2 a pint of heavy cream

A small piece of parmesan cheese

A few chives, chopped or snipped

A couple shakes of dried thyme