Celebrate National Caviar Day with Pasta Amnesia

If ever there was a day made for celebration, it’s got to be National Caviar Day. After all, fancy caviar and celebrations just go hand in hand, right?

Pretty as a picture. When I saw this photo, it just screamed Classy – Elegant – Beautiful!!! However; the recipe instructions contained at allrecipes.com did not match the photo – according to allrecipes.com, the smoked salmon was chopped and cooked into the sauce. The caviar was tossed into the pasta to give it color. Now I don’t mean to be picky, but do you see big pieces of salmon sitting atop a twirl of pasta, with a beautiful Caviar garnish or is that just me? (As it turns out, allrecipes.com isn’t the only posting that is using the same photo with instructions that aren’t even close to the pretty picture. Do a little searching and not only will you find the same picture, but the same basic recipe that doesn’t match the photo).

People, we are winging it here. The up side is we have a basic list of ingredients thanks to a multitude of internet searches. So I took the basic list, added a few minor tweaks and now the instructions render an exquisite dish that is more in keeping with the photo.

I still haven’t a clue as to why a dish of this caliber is called Pasta Amnesia. After all, amnesia means a partial or total loss of memory. Maybe after you’ve sampled this heavenly wonder, you will have forgotten all the pasta dishes that came before it.

I can just imagine Pasta Amnesia served as a starter to a sophisticated affair or as an impressive fish course in a multi-course supper.

Pasta Amnesia
Pasta and Cream Sauce
6 Pasta Nests (your choice of type)
1-1/2 cups cream
1-1/2 pinches freshly grated nutmeg
1-1/2 pinches ground black pepper, or to taste
1 Tablespoon flat-leaf parsley,

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop pasta nests into boiling water, and cook until al dente. Using a slotted spoon, remove nests from water. Drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, place cream in a small saucepan, over medium-low heat. Season with nutmeg and black pepper. Stir frequently until thickened.

Place drained pasta onto serving platter, small individual plates or Asian spoons. Drizzle the cream sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle each nest with caviar. With a fork twist nests carefully, taking care not to disturb their shape, until some of the caviar has broken and colors the pasta slightly. Sprinkle with a little parsley for added flakes of color.

Garnish
6 oz Smoked Salmon, cubed
3 teaspoons black caviar, divided

Place a small cube of salmon in center of each nest. Top salmon with a little caviar.

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