Baked Campanelle Alfredo with Salmon...

Most people hear the word pasta and think either spaghetti or macaroni as spaghetti with meatballs or mac and cheese. Few know that pasta comes in many appealing shapes and sizes, and one of the most delightful is Campanelle.

This delicate but sturdy shape, which means "Bellflowers" in Italian, has fluted, petal-like edges and a hollow center for capturing sauce.

Pasta is made for different experiences especially when it comes to the sauce: red or white, thick or thin, smooth or chunky and silky or sticky.  Use the pasta that fits to the sauce... now that's 'Brainy' advice.

For this dish you will need: one large fillet of fresh salmon, campanelle pasta, olive oil, butter, heavy cream, and cheese: mozzarella, parmesan.  To begin: boil the pasta until tender, drain, rinse and set aside while you saute the salmon (skin if any removed and dark 'blood' vain removed) cut into chunks in olive oil, a pat of butter, a dash of salt and white or black pepper and don't forget a dried herb mix of: rosemary mint and oregano.

Turn the oven to 375 to preheat. Pour the pasta into a glass baking dish (smeared with olive oil), stir on 1/4 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan and a top layer of soft mozzarella cheese along with a sprinkle of herbs.  Pop into the oven until it starts to bubble. Remove and stir in the cooked salmon pouring all the dregs from sauteing.

Top with more parmesan and mozzarella cheese and pop back into the oven until the cheese browns.  In this time, prepare a small sauce pan of simple alfredo sauce using only heavy cream, butter and parmesan. This can be put on the table as an extra sauce or poured over the top of the dish when serving or even stirred in before serving for extra creaminess.

~ Tutti a Tavola!