The 5 Zloty Chef: Tagliatelle in a salmon and leek cream sauce

I popped down the market the other day and there it was: Baltic salmon. Not fish-farmed nonsense from Norway, but real fish from the local area. Just the job! So, I came up with a simple sauce to go with it using leek, garlic and cream. It's dead easy to do and goes beautifully with a ribbon pasta such as tagliatelle.

That challenge was to bring it in under budget. If I was to do it again, I'd get a whole fish and fillet it myself - it's cheaper that way for sure. But this time I went for 3 salmon steaks weighing in at 300g which came to 12 zl. So, I had to be really economical and use only 60g per person. The sauce really came in handy when I had to pan out that 60g into a main course.

I decided to push the boat out even more by finishing the dish with crumbled pan-roasted almonds!

Serves: 3
Cost per person: 4 zl (80 UK pence)

What you'll need:

- 180g fresh, local salmon ( I bought 300g but kept back 120g for another occasion)
- 1/2 a leek
- a handful of finely chopped chives
- a handful of lovage (optional)
- 1 clove of garlic roughly chopped
- a splash of olive oil
- a little butter
- a small pot of 18% cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- a handful of almonds
- 180g tagliatelle

Let's go!

1. Prep your stuff:

2. You'll need that salmon skinned and off the bone. An easy way is to pan fry it first - then the flesh just falls away from the skeleton. You then add the cooked flesh to the sauce later. So, pan on! Olive oil in!

3. Salmon in!

4. When the flesh turns white up to 2/3 of the way, turn over and do the other side

5. Remove from the pan and cool. Meanwhile, get your water boiling for the pasta. When it's boiling get the pasta in and cook according to the packet - you want it nice and al dente. If it's ready before the rest of the meal, drain and set aside. Refresh with boiling water from the kettle just before serving.