I know, cocoa pasta and salmon does not sound right, but don’t judge too soon. I wouldn’t have tried it either, except that I was given a packet of Hotel Chocolat cocoa pasta for Christmas. Never having had chocolate flavoured pasta before, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. As the recipe on the packet was for a savoury dish, salmon and mascarpone cocoa pasta, and the packet said, ‘made with pure unsweetened cocoa’, I assumed the pasta would not be sweet and that maybe the cocoa would just give the pasta a slight bitter flavour. Taking the easy route, I decided to make the recipe on the pack. After all, I reasoned, Hotel Chocolat must know what they are talking about. The pasta must be suitable for savoury dishes.
As the pasta was cooking, a lovely chocolaty smell wafted up from the pan. Is this really going to work with salmon? I wondered. Luckily, the chocolate smell is stronger than the chocolate taste, but there is still a definite chocolate taste to the pasta. Chocolate rather than cocoa. Milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate. I checked the ingredients. Sugar. The pasta contained sugar!
It was a little odd to eat slightly sweet pasta with a creamy salmon sauce. A little odd but not unpleasant. I would even eat it again if it was given to me. However, I won’t be making it myself again as my husband claimed it made him feel a little sick.
There is still some pasta left in the packet and I’m sure it’ll end up in a delicious dessert soon.
Ingredients – serves 2
150g Cocoa Pasta
100g smoked salmon, sliced into strips
2 tbsp mascarpone
Handful grated parmesan
1 Lemon, quartered, to serve with the pasta
How to Make Cocoa Salmon Pasta
1. Put the pasta on to boil.
2. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and return it to the pan along with a little of the cooking water.
3. Mix the mascarpone and parmesan into the pasta until it forms a smooth sauce and has heated through. Stir in the smoked salmon.
4. Serve with the lemon wedges.
Denise
January 5, 2013 at 10:51 am
Definitely a sweet pasta – especially with mascapone, maybe some fruit rather than salmon?
although I admit sweet pasta really doesn’t sound right does it.
Corina
January 5, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Yes, sweet pasta does sound unusual but I think this pasta would make a really good sweet dish. There is a sweet recipe on the Hotel Chocolat site and I’m thinking of trying that with the pasta I’ve got left. It uses berries and I’m sure it’ll be a much better choice!
Janice Pattie (@serialcrafter)
January 5, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Chocolate pasta sounds decidedly odd! Well done on having a go with it.
Couscous & Consciousness
January 6, 2013 at 9:23 am
What an intriguing sounding dish. I have never come across chocolate pasta before and I can’t imagine it with salmon, but I’d be game to try anything. Maybe it would be good with something “gamey”, such as venison.