Pasta Salad with Roasted Salmon and Creamy Dijon Dressing

Little bowties dressed up with a creamy, tangy dressing and a delightful blend of roasted salmon, red onion, fennel, capers, and fresh dill – all tossed together making one delightful pasta salad.

This week I stumbled upon a beautiful salmon from New Zealand. It was so wonderful that I decided to go back for a large fillet to roast and toss into this favorite dish. It’s a recipe that’s perfect for making great use of leftover salmon – or worthy of starting from scratch!

Pasta salads make wonderful entrees or sides for warm weather menus. A great salad brings together layers of flavor and this one is no exception. The dressing is made with a gorgeous extra-virgin olive oil, a crisp champagne vinegar along with rich mayonnaise and a piquant Dijon mustard, adding just the right touch of tang. The salad is composed of tender bites of farfalle pasta, savory notes from red onion, fennel, and capers plus the beauty of fresh dill to highlight that roasted salmon.

Toss the pasta with the dressing while it’s still hot allowing it to soak it in, then stir in everything else…

…along with those tender chunks of roasted salmon.

Finish with a touch more dressing and serve while the pasta is still warm or nicely chilled. Either way is quite nice.

Pasta Salad with Roasted Salmon and Creamy Dijon Dressing

For the dressing:

⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar

½ cup real mayonnaise

6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

¾ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

For the salmon:

2 pounds salmon fillet

2 tablespoons olive oil

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

½ cup sliced fennel

½ cup sliced sweet onion

1 lemon, sliced

1 orange, sliced

4 to 5 fennel fronds

For the pasta salad:

1 pound farfalle pasta

½ cup chopped fennel bulb

¾ cup chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

4 tablespoons capers

3 cups roasted salmon, broken into chunks*

To make the dressing:

Pour the olive oil and the champagne vinegar into a blender. Add the mayonnaise and the Dijon mustard along with ¾ teaspoon of the kosher salt and the black pepper.

Process until well blended and smooth. Check for seasoning and add the additional ¼ teaspoon salt if needed.

For the salmon:

About 30 minutes before cooking, pull the salmon from the fridge, brush it with olive oil and season the flesh side with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.

In a large ovenproof skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel and onions, sautéing for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove from the heat and place the salmon on top of the fennel and onions. Place the orange and lemon slices over the salmon and toss the fennel fronds into the pan.

Roast the salmon in a 400-degree oven for 40 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked through. When the salmon is cool enough to handle, break into large chunks.

For the salad:

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 10 minutes or until just tender. Drain and pour the pasta into a large bowl. While the pasta is still hot toss it with ½ cup of the vinaigrette.

Add the chopped fennel, red onion, dill, and capers, stirring to blend together. Add the roasted salmon plus an additional ½ cup dressing and gently stir to combine.

Serve at room temperature or chilled. After the pasta has chilled it will soak up most of the dressing so toss with additional if needed.

*If you don’t have time to roast a salmon you can often find it in most seafood markets.

Serves 6 to 8.