Creamy smoked haddock pasta in a béchamel based silky smooth Comte cheese sauce flavoured with Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard.
This wonderfully indulgent and delicious pasta dish takes around 30 minutes to cook and prepare.
Creamy Smoked Fish Pasta
I love this creamy cheesy smoked haddock pasta recipe, I’ve been playing around with it for a while and I think it is one of the tastiest things I’ve made in a long old while.
It has a touch of “mac and cheese” about it. But it also rocks many of the flavours that I use in my pretty classic Welsh rarebit recipe.
Here I scale back the amount of Worcestershire sauce and move to Dijon mustard rather than English mustard, but that vibe still sings through.
The whole cheesy white sauce with smoked haddock is a well-trodden path. It’s appeared here before in the form of my smoked haddock rarebit on toast and in my smoked haddock gratin recipe.
I use a Comte cheese in this recipe, it has wonderful melting qualities and has an almost sweet and nutty flavour.
If creamy cheesy pasta is your thing then this is the dinner that you need!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a different type of smoked fish?
This recipe works well with a smoked meaty white fish, so you could sub in smoked cod which is fairly common.
You should avoid smoked salmon, mackerel or trout.
Can I use a different type of cheese?
Yes, this recipe works well with a host of different types of cheese. I like something with a little sweetness and nuttiness.
An aged Gouda would work well as would would a nice Gruyère. I would avoid very salty cheeses like mature cheddar because the smoked haddock adds plenty of salt.
Can I use a different type of mustard?
Yes, you could use any mustard you like, I think the relatively mild flavour of Dijon gives the best balance in this recipe.
Can I make this in advance?
No, the nature of the bechamél based cheese sauce makes this dish unsuitable for chilling and reheating.
Serving Suggestions
Your biggest decision when you are cooking this creamy smoked haddock pasta recipe is choosing the pasta that you use.
I’ve gone with mezze rigatoni, any big “tubes” would work equally well, to penne or rigatoni are good choices.
Elbow macaroni or something like the lumaca rigata that I use for my similarly textured butternut squash pasta would be great too.
When it comes to sides, then all I’d add to this is a bit of garlic bread or double down on the cheese and add some cheesy garlic bread.
Equipment Used
I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But, if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Stovetop.
- 30cm or 12″ frying pan.
- 20cm or 8″ saucepan.
- Colander.
- Fine mesh sieve.
- A bowl to sieve the milk into.
- Stirring and serving spoons.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Cheese grater.
- Weighing scales and or a combination of a measuring jug, cups and spoons.
Cheesy Smoked Haddock Pasta Recipe
This creamy and cheesy smoked haddock pasta recipe pays a little nod to "mac and cheese" but it gets a boost of flavour from Worcestershire sauce and a little Dijon mustard.
Ingredients
- 300g (11oz) Smoked Haddock
- 500ml (2 Cups) Milk
- 1 Medium (150g) Onion
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 12 Black Peppercorns
- 100g (¾ Cup) Comte Cheese
- 25g (1 Tbsp + 2 Tsp) Butter
- 3 Tbsp (25g) Flour
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 180g (6oz) Dried Pasta
- Chives to Garnish
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a 30cm (12") frying pan.
- Top and tail the onion, peel it, then cut it into 4 slices and toss it in with the milk.
- Add the bay leaf and black peppercorns and heat the milk over a medium-high heat until small bubbles form at the side of the pan.
- When the milk has started to bubble at the edges, add the smoked haddock, reduce the heat to medium, add the smoked haddock, and cook it for 5-7 minutes. If the milk begins to boil reduce the heat a little.
- Grate the cheese.
- Remove the fish and set it aside, strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve, discard the solids and set the milk aside.
- Wipe out the pan, return it to medium heat, and melt the butter.
- When the butter has melted add the flour and cook for a minute or two stirring constantly.
- Whilst you are making the sauce boil the pasta in well-salted water in a 20cm or 8" saucepan (I use 1½ teaspoons of salt in a pan this size).
- Add around 350ml (1½ Cups) of the milk that you used to poach the fish little by little to flour and butter mix stirring all of the time until you have a nice rich bechamel sauce.
- Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard then add the cheese a handful at a time until it has all melted and formed a smooth cheese sauce.
- Remove the skin from the poached haddock and then break it up into large flakes and add it to the cheese sauce.
- Drain and add the pasta to the sauce, stir to coat adding pasta water to thin the sauce if needed.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 949Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 211mgSodium: 1795mgCarbohydrates: 91gFiber: 10gSugar: 10gProtein: 64g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.