Creamy pasta without cream? Yes please! This dish is so summery, vibrant, fresh; it’s hard to believe you can enjoy it guilt-free. It’s oh-so-low-fat, healthy and delicious! The yogurt adds so much creaminess without the extra fat of cream and also a very nice tang, which works so well with the salmon. The lemon adds freshness and just the right amount of acidity. You can prepare it in a snap and it’s one of the coolest ways to use up those forgotten salmon fillets in the freezer.

 Ingredients

• 500 grams whole meal penne pasta
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 salmon fillets, no skin or bones
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 ½ tsp green peppercorns in brine, drained (optional)
• 1 bunch spinach, leaves only (that’s about 150 grams spinach leaves)
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 Tbs lemon zest
• ½ cup full fat Greek yogurt
• Salt and plenty of freshly grated black pepper

Method

Bring a large pot with plenty of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions, minus 1 minute. Drain pasta and keep about a cup of the cooking water.

Put the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic with a pinch of salt. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent but doesn’t begin to colour.

Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper on both sides. Push the onion mixture to the side of your pan and add the salmon fillets. Cook for 2 minutes on each side.

Pour in the wine and the green peppercorns if using. Let it evaporate for 30 seconds. Add the spinach leaves on top of the fillets and mix in gently with the rest of the ingredients in the pan. It doesn’t matter if the salmon fillets break. Cook for about a minute, until spinach leaves have wilted.

Add the cooked pasta, lemon juice, lemon zest and yogurt. Cook for a minute, mixing with a spatula, until yogurt is incorporated and pasta is cooked. If pasta seems too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.

Transfer pasta to a serving platter. Season generously with freshly grated black pepper and serve at once.