Pasta al Julia

This is a recipe that my mum, Julia, created based on pasta Alfredo, so it's known in my family as Pasta al Julia.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 200g dried spaghetti
• 150ml cream
• 50g finely grated strong hard cheese, such as Parmesan or Grana Padano
• 100g frozen peas
• 100g smoked salmon, cut into 1cm pieces if not already in pieces

Method

1. Put on a pan of water to boil for the spaghetti
2. Heat the olive oil in a separate sauce pan over a medium heat
3. Add the onions and garlic to the pre-heated oil in the saucepan and place a lid on the top to sweat for 5 minutes
4. By now the water for the spaghetti should be boiling, so turn the heat right down to low on the onions
5. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook per-instructions (probably 12 minutes)
6. When the pasta is five minutes from being done, add the cream, cheese and frozen peas to the onions pan and turn the heat back up to medium-low
7. Stir the cream/pea/cheese mix while the pasta cooks - if it starts to look like it's got to a simmer then turn the heat down
8. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well and add it to the pan of cream sauce
9. Add the smoked salmon pieces to the same pan and stir well until the sauce, salmon and pasta are well combined
10. Transfer to wide pasta bowl to serve and enjoy with freshly ground black pepper on top

Serves 2.