Creamy Salmon Pasta with Broccoli

As some of you know, I've been struggling with TMD (temporomandibular joint disorder) for over 2 years. As a result, I'm unable to chew much of anything, unless it's extremely soft. Most meats, even well cooked, are too tough for me to chew. Enter...CANNED SALMON! It's soft, tasty, and super nutritious. We use the Think Pink Wild Alaskan Salmon from Azure Standard, but any wild Alaskan salmon should be fine. Just make sure you aren't getting farmed salmon. Yuck!

By using gluten-free pasta and gluten-free flour, I modified this recipe to be gluten-free. If you are not gluten-intolerant, then by all means substitute for regular, "gluten-y" pasta and flour.

When you top the casserole with cheese, PLEASE, for the love of CHEESE, don't skimp! Get yourself some quality cheese you don't have to feel guilty about eating, and PILE IT ON! This is Graziers raw, grass-fed cheddar, also from Azure Standard.

See what I mean? If you're not grabbing it by the handful, you're not using enough. Grass-fed, raw cheese is full of good fat, protein, calcium, and CLA (look it up).

Please don't be tempted to use dried basil. My feelings will be hurt. I will personally be offended. #justkidding #butmaybenot #seriouslyjustusethefreshbasil

This is fresh basil from our organic garden. Can't you just smell it?

Once your casserole is generously topped with cheese, pop it in the oven just to warm it through and allow the cheese to melt and bubble. It should look like this. If it's a little more browned and caramelized on the top, even better. Send me a picture. I would have left mine in a little longer, but I had three hungry bellies that wouldn't wait even one more second.

Just look at that tender pasta and cream-drenched broccoli pressing themselves against the glass. It's almost like they're begging you to dig in.

And there you have it! A creamy, rich, nourishing, CHEESY casserole that you will make over and over again.

Eat up!

Recipe: Creamy Salmon Pasta with Broccoli

1 lb uncooked gluten-free penne pasta (can substitute regular wheat pasta)

4 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed

1/2 cup grass-fed, real butter

1/3 cup gluten-free flour (can substitute regular all-purpose flour)

3 cups whole, raw milk, preferably grass-fed

1 (8-oz) brick organic, full-fat cream cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers (can substitute sun-dried tomatoes)

10 large fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

1 (14-oz) can wild Alaskan salmon

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Meanwhile, put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta. When it is boiling rapidly, add the pasta with a generous sprinkling of salt. Give it a stir, return to the boil and cook for 4-6 minutes (gluten-free pasta requires a shorter cooking time). Add the broccoli, then return the water to the boil and cook for 4 minutes more, or until the broccoli is on the firm side of just tender and the pasta is al dente. Pour into a colander and drain well.
In the same pan you used to boil the pasta, put the butter, flour, and milk. Whisk or stir continuously over medium heat, until it thickens to make a smooth sauce. Stir in additional milk as needed if the sauce is too thick. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic powder, cream cheese, roasted red peppers, and basil. Taste, and season with salt and pepper, then add the pasta, broccoli, and canned salmon and stir to coat well.
Spoon the mixture into a 9"x13" glass baking dish, then top with the grated cheddar. (You can chill this for up to 4 hours if you want to make ahead.)
Bake for 30 minutes or until the mixture is just starting to bubble around the edges and the mixture is pale golden.