20 min decadent modern pantry pasta packed with protein and omega-3s! It's not traditional Florentine, but I promise there's a steamy little story here
Farfalle with salmone was very 80's just as Vodka pasta was! PS acqua al 2 also opened in San Diego! I lived down the street from the restaurant in the 80's! just near Vivoli's with my boyfriend. He adores farfalle and in the 80's everything had panna!!!
Oooooh I knew you would have the scoop on this pasta and restaurant, Judy!! I love reading the insider low down from you!! You know it's the only recipe I like farfalle in?! I'm going to need to interview you on 80s pantry pastas! I didn't keep a diary then - so it is wild to me that I remember so much about that restaurant and meal. It really made an impact. And that it still exists and I could find it on the internet. Thank you for this fun start to my day! xx
Oh Anne, thank you so much for sending this! I have just bookmarked it in spotify to listen this week. Food and history. I can't think of anything better!
Lovely story, I make pasta with smoked salmon too but give it a German spin with lots of dill sprinkled on top at the end. Thank you, you made me miss Florence, a lot!
Oh how gorgeous! I happened to have some dill on my windowsill, so I popped it on for the first time. It was delicious - and now you remind me that it harkens back to my German roots too! Thank you for sharing, Julie! x
A real staple in our house, though the farfalle often get swapped out for penne or tagliatelle. Had it just the other night, in fact. Never fails to satisfy!
Funny you should mention shelf stable cream. Don’t know if you’ve had the same experience living in the north, but I’ve encountered a lot of Italians with a real aversion to cream. I’ve sometimes wondered if “panna da cucina” might not be at least partially to blame. It’s very thick and if you’re not careful it can overwhelm a dish.
Oh delicious with penne or tagliatelle too! You know, my boyfriend is one of those with the cream aversion! But in general everyone else up here loves it. We are much more for the dairy products here in the north! It’s true - the shelf stable cream does required more caution and I should add that to the recipe. Thank you for this, Frank!
When we first moved to Rome we used to go to a restaurant near the Ponte Milvio that was older than Italy 😉 & they served a similar salmon pasta! Though, I think it was made with penne.
Hi, yes, Oh My God, this experience is super similar to one of mine.
When I went to school in Florence in 1985, the teachers gave us some gastronomic "consigli". Acqua al Due was one of them. When I went back to Florence in 1992 with a Colombian boyfriend who I met in Switzerland where I was living, it was up to me to show him around Florence, and the restaurant that came to my mind was Acqua al Due. It being the only one I recalled a local recommending to me and I led my boyfriend there with happy confidence. We were on a budget just like the one you describe. We were all moony in love just like you describe. And I could swear we had that salmon pasta.
And you know what, even though the restaurant still exists, that was the last time I went there. It remains a place fixed in the world of my twenties and I guess I want to leave it that way.
Oh wow, Chandi. I suspect we are not the only ones!!! I so wonder where I received that recommendation. It might have even just been out of the Lonely Planet book. Your story made me laugh out loud with our kindred experience! Knowing what I know now, it wouldn't be a place I'd return to either. I would never want to taint that innocent memory!! Thank you so much for sharing with me. You made my day! x
Awww, cool to hear I made your day! I loved the way your story took me back to that long ago day/evening in my twenties and that youthful “in love with Italy and with Diego” sensation that evening in Acqua al Due!💖 (Since I called him Diego in my memoir, I’ll stick with it here)😉
Hey Lolly, thanks for your interest! It's about my long-distance walk on Italy's pilgrimage route that I undertook to heal after a divorce and a traumatic illness, which occurred at the same time. There's a small part of it where I share a story about when Diego and I took a train from Switzerland down to Italy. I recount our time in the Cinque Terre (prior to the inundation). It was the same trip where we went to Florence and to Acqua al Due although that part is not in the book. Here's a link to it: getBook.at/returntoglow
How did I not know you wrote a book? I’m reading the summary. This sounds amazing!! I want to read it and learn about your journey and the Via Francigena! (My gawd, do you cry reading the reviews on Amazon? I have tears in my eyes from the reviews of people that get what this experience of healing physically and mentally is like. “Torna a risplendere, Chandi!” Wonderful!!)
Ma quanto sei carina! 😍 Funny, because yesterday I happened to mention the book in a "note" I posted about the English bookstore here in Firenze.
Isn't that pretty phrase? Torna a risplendere. You are seeing the foreign reviews. If you go to the American site you'll see more...😉 Comunque, I really appreciate your kind words about it 🥰
Thanks for sharing your lovely story - the 20s seem so long ago but also just like yesterday sometimes, don’t they? This pasta sounds delicious and right up my alley! Yum!
Yes! I know the feeling! When I tell a story of my past, I feel the same way like I’m talking about another person: someone a little bit stupider and definitely younger 🤣
Yes! My ex also introduced me to prosciutto e panna! It was in heavy rotation for a while for my son when he was young. Was that with prosciutto cotto or crudo? That is wild that you have strong memories of the restaurant too!
Wonderful story! It is one of my favourite things about travelling to Italy--stumbling upon the same restaurants that somehow manage to withstand the test of time (and often with the same camerieri :-). Although it's been a few years since we've been back to Florence, one of my "beeline" places is Le volpi e l'uva, a stone's throw from the Ponte Vecchio.
And a good reminder about shelf stable panna, which I can get easily here. I always seems to be out of cream just when I need it.
Ciao Elizabeth, Thank you for reading - and for sharing one of your top places in firenze! I hope to get back there some day and I've added that to my list now. Career camerieri or family camerieri! So true - they really often become fixtures that add to the ambience. Wonderful!
Loved reading this! It is completely possible that you had pasta panna e salmone at a restaurant in 1994. I think that back then you’d only find smoked salmone in slices. I’ve started seeing other kinds of salmon in supermarket only recently. My mom made it often (specifically, farfalle!) with some spring vegetable addition too: you can male salmone panna e asparagi, or peas, or artichokes…it’s one of my top march/April pastas and I still live it from my childhood ♥️
Valentina! I could talk to you about this all day! I am drooling over the salmone panna e asparagi inspiration and am now also sulking over the fact that asparagi are not yet in season. PEAS TOO! I can't wait. If you pass through Como we can make it together! x
Hi Walter! I am no expert in Nordic fish prep, but I believe gravlax is with salt, sugar, and dill. I don’t know how that would taste in this pasta, but if you try it, I would love to hear about the results! I tested with simple salt cured or smoked - the 2 kinds we have available here in Italy. Both are delicious! In the photo of the ingredients, you can see the package of the unsmoked cured salmon I used that day. I hope this helps!
Priscilla, you goddess!! Thank you for catching my typo and telling me. I use a template to adjust my recipe notes at the very end of my recipes every time and missed that veggie slip-up.
Farfalle with salmone was very 80's just as Vodka pasta was! PS acqua al 2 also opened in San Diego! I lived down the street from the restaurant in the 80's! just near Vivoli's with my boyfriend. He adores farfalle and in the 80's everything had panna!!!
Oooooh I knew you would have the scoop on this pasta and restaurant, Judy!! I love reading the insider low down from you!! You know it's the only recipe I like farfalle in?! I'm going to need to interview you on 80s pantry pastas! I didn't keep a diary then - so it is wild to me that I remember so much about that restaurant and meal. It really made an impact. And that it still exists and I could find it on the internet. Thank you for this fun start to my day! xx
I love the demolition of Italian food history on The Rest is History. Worth a listen for anyone interested in food and history. https://uk-podcasts.co.uk/podcast/the-rest-is-history/484-the-food-that-changed-the-world
Oh Anne, thank you so much for sending this! I have just bookmarked it in spotify to listen this week. Food and history. I can't think of anything better!
It’s both very reliable history and quite fun too.
Cannot wait! It’s first up on my podcast list!!
Lovely story, I make pasta with smoked salmon too but give it a German spin with lots of dill sprinkled on top at the end. Thank you, you made me miss Florence, a lot!
Oh how gorgeous! I happened to have some dill on my windowsill, so I popped it on for the first time. It was delicious - and now you remind me that it harkens back to my German roots too! Thank you for sharing, Julie! x
A real staple in our house, though the farfalle often get swapped out for penne or tagliatelle. Had it just the other night, in fact. Never fails to satisfy!
Funny you should mention shelf stable cream. Don’t know if you’ve had the same experience living in the north, but I’ve encountered a lot of Italians with a real aversion to cream. I’ve sometimes wondered if “panna da cucina” might not be at least partially to blame. It’s very thick and if you’re not careful it can overwhelm a dish.
Oh delicious with penne or tagliatelle too! You know, my boyfriend is one of those with the cream aversion! But in general everyone else up here loves it. We are much more for the dairy products here in the north! It’s true - the shelf stable cream does required more caution and I should add that to the recipe. Thank you for this, Frank!
When we first moved to Rome we used to go to a restaurant near the Ponte Milvio that was older than Italy 😉 & they served a similar salmon pasta! Though, I think it was made with penne.
Thank you, Gillian! I was afraid I'd imagined it all! It sounds like salmon pasta was a 'thing' in the 80s and 90s!
Hi, yes, Oh My God, this experience is super similar to one of mine.
When I went to school in Florence in 1985, the teachers gave us some gastronomic "consigli". Acqua al Due was one of them. When I went back to Florence in 1992 with a Colombian boyfriend who I met in Switzerland where I was living, it was up to me to show him around Florence, and the restaurant that came to my mind was Acqua al Due. It being the only one I recalled a local recommending to me and I led my boyfriend there with happy confidence. We were on a budget just like the one you describe. We were all moony in love just like you describe. And I could swear we had that salmon pasta.
And you know what, even though the restaurant still exists, that was the last time I went there. It remains a place fixed in the world of my twenties and I guess I want to leave it that way.
Loved your story Lolly!
Oh wow, Chandi. I suspect we are not the only ones!!! I so wonder where I received that recommendation. It might have even just been out of the Lonely Planet book. Your story made me laugh out loud with our kindred experience! Knowing what I know now, it wouldn't be a place I'd return to either. I would never want to taint that innocent memory!! Thank you so much for sharing with me. You made my day! x
Awww, cool to hear I made your day! I loved the way your story took me back to that long ago day/evening in my twenties and that youthful “in love with Italy and with Diego” sensation that evening in Acqua al Due!💖 (Since I called him Diego in my memoir, I’ll stick with it here)😉
Oh Chandi I just caught this… you wrote a memoir about this!!! Can I read it?
Hey Lolly, thanks for your interest! It's about my long-distance walk on Italy's pilgrimage route that I undertook to heal after a divorce and a traumatic illness, which occurred at the same time. There's a small part of it where I share a story about when Diego and I took a train from Switzerland down to Italy. I recount our time in the Cinque Terre (prior to the inundation). It was the same trip where we went to Florence and to Acqua al Due although that part is not in the book. Here's a link to it: getBook.at/returntoglow
How did I not know you wrote a book? I’m reading the summary. This sounds amazing!! I want to read it and learn about your journey and the Via Francigena! (My gawd, do you cry reading the reviews on Amazon? I have tears in my eyes from the reviews of people that get what this experience of healing physically and mentally is like. “Torna a risplendere, Chandi!” Wonderful!!)
Ma quanto sei carina! 😍 Funny, because yesterday I happened to mention the book in a "note" I posted about the English bookstore here in Firenze.
Isn't that pretty phrase? Torna a risplendere. You are seeing the foreign reviews. If you go to the American site you'll see more...😉 Comunque, I really appreciate your kind words about it 🥰
Thanks for sharing your lovely story - the 20s seem so long ago but also just like yesterday sometimes, don’t they? This pasta sounds delicious and right up my alley! Yum!
It's hard to explain how diving into this memory has effected me! It seems like I'm talking about a different person...
Yes! I know the feeling! When I tell a story of my past, I feel the same way like I’m talking about another person: someone a little bit stupider and definitely younger 🤣
haha!! laughing out loud over here. Definitely a little bit stupider on my part! ahhhh
Ohmygoodness
I haven’t thought about Aqua Al Due in eons!
It was a regular spot in my 84-85 school year. I remember they had a tasting first course where you’d get mini potions of several pastas.
Prosciutto and panna was such a regular in the 80s (and maybe 90s) that this makes sense too.
Yes! My ex also introduced me to prosciutto e panna! It was in heavy rotation for a while for my son when he was young. Was that with prosciutto cotto or crudo? That is wild that you have strong memories of the restaurant too!
It’s really a good question if it was crudo o cotto. I feeeeeel like it was crudo. I do prefer the flavor.
I will try this! I’ve only made it with cotto, but I really think crudo could be lovely!
Wonderful story! It is one of my favourite things about travelling to Italy--stumbling upon the same restaurants that somehow manage to withstand the test of time (and often with the same camerieri :-). Although it's been a few years since we've been back to Florence, one of my "beeline" places is Le volpi e l'uva, a stone's throw from the Ponte Vecchio.
And a good reminder about shelf stable panna, which I can get easily here. I always seems to be out of cream just when I need it.
Ciao Elizabeth, Thank you for reading - and for sharing one of your top places in firenze! I hope to get back there some day and I've added that to my list now. Career camerieri or family camerieri! So true - they really often become fixtures that add to the ambience. Wonderful!
Nice 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Grazie mille!
Loved reading this! It is completely possible that you had pasta panna e salmone at a restaurant in 1994. I think that back then you’d only find smoked salmone in slices. I’ve started seeing other kinds of salmon in supermarket only recently. My mom made it often (specifically, farfalle!) with some spring vegetable addition too: you can male salmone panna e asparagi, or peas, or artichokes…it’s one of my top march/April pastas and I still live it from my childhood ♥️
Valentina! I could talk to you about this all day! I am drooling over the salmone panna e asparagi inspiration and am now also sulking over the fact that asparagi are not yet in season. PEAS TOO! I can't wait. If you pass through Como we can make it together! x
Am I reading the recipe correctly: cold smoked salmon or cured as gravlax?
Hi Walter! I am no expert in Nordic fish prep, but I believe gravlax is with salt, sugar, and dill. I don’t know how that would taste in this pasta, but if you try it, I would love to hear about the results! I tested with simple salt cured or smoked - the 2 kinds we have available here in Italy. Both are delicious! In the photo of the ingredients, you can see the package of the unsmoked cured salmon I used that day. I hope this helps!
Tanti Auguri!!!
Grazie mille, Judy!! xx
Why does this recipe mention “broccoli”? Did I miss something?
Priscilla, you goddess!! Thank you for catching my typo and telling me. I use a template to adjust my recipe notes at the very end of my recipes every time and missed that veggie slip-up.
Thought that might be the case!
I feel the same, Jo! Just made it again this week. It’s now in heavy rotation at our house. Thx for the bday wishes, Jo! xx