Marion's Sour Cream & Dill Pasta
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This pasta dish goes beautifully with salmon and other fish-dishes and come from our world-traveling friend, Marion and comes by way of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and Alaska. She says, "I originally got a couple of recipes off the web for a creamy dill sauce, and then did a bit of creative experimentation based on those and came up with this dish. It serves 4 as a side dish or 2 ala carte. Enjoy!"

A bit more about Marion:

I live in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and have been over here for the past 10 years.  I grew up in Alaska and lived in the States for 20 years before moving over here to do a foreign exchange at the University, and then fell in love with the place and stayed on.

My sister and her 6-year-old son have just decided to move over to stay with me so that she can complete her Master's degree over here, so it's a bit of a change from the single life for me (not that I mind)!  I have a dog and two cats, and my hobbies include wine-making, cookery, gardening and entertaining. Glad you enjoyed the recipe anyway; we have it now and again, especially whenever my parents send smoked salmon over from back home.

For the sauce:

• 3 diced shallots (or an equivalent amount of onion / green onion)
• 1-2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• 2 t Paprika
• 1/2 t Marjoram
• 1/2 t Caraway seeds
• 3-4 t dried Dill
  (if you use fresh, treble this amount)
• 1 fish stock cube dissolved into 1 c hot water
• 150 ml sour cream / creme fraiche
• 1 container (200g) extra light cream cheese
• 1/2 cucumber
• fresh ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• olive oil

What you do:

1. In a large skillet (I like to use a wok) over low-medium heat, heat enough olive oil to coat shallots well, but not drown them. Saute shallots for a couple of minutes, then add paprika and garlic and continue until it all starts to go golden.  Add caraway seeds and marjoram, continue for 30 seconds, then add fish stock and turn onto low heat.
2. At this point, I usually start a saucepan full of lightly salted water with a bit of olive oil on high heat (for the pasta).
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, cream cheese and dill.  If the mix is too thick to whisk, add a tiny bit of milk.  When the stock mix has reduced down a bit, add the sour cream mix and stir in thoroughly. Grind in black pepper and salt to taste, and allow to continue on low heat, stirring occasionally (make sure you keep it from sticking to the bottom), until it's reduced down to the desired consistency.
4. Meanwhile, chop the cucumber into thin slivers about an inch long.
5. I then simply stir cooked tagliatelle through the sauce, stir in the chopped cucumber, and serve immediately (the cucumber's nicest when it's still fresh and crispy against the warm, creamy sauce).

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