Smoked Salmon with Fresh Dill and Capers

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons butter
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons flour
3 cups half and half, divided
1 pound short pasta
1 ¹⁄₂ limes, juiced
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, diced (I used green onion from the CSA)
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 yellow pepper, diced
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
8 ounces smoked salmon, chopped
4 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed very well
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta as directed on the package.  Drain and toss with dill and lime juice.  Set aside.  

2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add flour and stir or whisk until smooth.  Gradually stir in 2 cups half and half.  Increase heat to high and continue stirring until boiling.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You’ve just made béchamel!

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then sauté the onions and yellow peppers until tender.  Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Pour the wine into the pan, scrapping the bottom of the skillet to loosen any bits that have stuck on. 
Simmer until wine has reduced by half.

4. Combine vegetables with béchamel, remaining cup of half and half, smoked salmon, and capers.  Slowly bring to a boil.  

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add sauce to pasta and toss well to coat.  Serve and enjoy.  

Comments
This was inspired by a recipe I found on foodtv.com.  Sadly, the recipe was lacking a lot of direction, so the recipe you see here is my interpretation of what the recipe I found was asking me to do.  This had a lot of interesting flavors in it that are all fairly strong on their own, but surprisingly enough everything worked very well once brought together in the dish.   It makes 6 good-sized portions, so I’ll be enjoying this later during the week for lunches.  It’s quite a bit lighter tasting that 3 cups of half and half would lead you to believe.

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