SeaBear Wild Salmon for a Stuffed Shell Pasta Recipe

Raise your hand if you love pasta? Now raise the other if you love smoked salmon pasta. Lastly, shake them if you love smoked salmon from Seattle!

Ok, I’ll stop being a nerd. I’m just so excited by this smoked salmon pasta recipe I developed. It features local smoked salmon from Seattle and adds a creative twist: stuffed shells!

It’s just in time for our Feast of the Seven Fishes celebration on Christas Eve, but really this recipe is good year round. So if you love smoked salmon, pasta, and Seattle, this stuffed shells recipe is for you!

Stuffed Shell Pasta Recipe With Smoked Salmon From Seattle

What is the Feast of the Seven Fishes?

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American celebration that happens on Christmas Eve. It includes at least seven or more fishes. Sometimes that’s seven different fishes and other times it’s one fish prepared seven different ways.

What’s funny is that no one really knows where the tradition came from. Italians sure don’t know about it, so it’s theorized that Americans developed it. These seem to be the most commonly accepted theories:

It’s based on the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat on the eve of a feast day (however it’s not listed as a holiday on the official Roman Catholic calendar).
Baccalà (salted cod) is typically served.
It’s not clear where the number seven came from, but popular theories include that it represents the number most referenced in the bible, the seven sacraments of the Catholic church, the seven hills of Rome, or the seven deadly sins.

Either way, my family creates a Feast of the Seven Fishes every Christmas Eve. We make sure to represent at least seven different seafood, oftentimes including a few in one dish so we’re not making seven different courses.

I was inspired by this recipe for stuffed shells with tuna, since my family always makes sure to have at least one pasta recipe. So when SeaBear reached out to me about their smoked salmon from Seattle, I instantly wanted to make a smoked salmon pasta recipe!

About This Smoked Salmon From Seattle

I received a gift pack from SeaBear Wild Salmon to try and see if it’d be a good fit for a recipe. They sent me candied sockeye salmon strips, a 4-pack of flavored smoked salmon, salmon jerky, and a pack of ready-to-eat salmon from Seattle.

Originally called Specialty Seafoods, they’ve been operating out of Anacortes north of Seattle since 1957. It all started when fisherman Tom Savidge and his wife Marie created a backyard smokehouse and began smoking wild salmon he caught.

They started selling it to local taverns and tourists on their way to the San Juan Islands. Word spread and people started shipping the smoked salmon from Seattle back to their friends across the country.

In response to requests from local taverns for better shelf life, Tom invented the process for preserving salmon naturally, which allowed the salmon to be stored without refrigeration and shipped more efficiently. As sales grew, they rebranded to SeaBear and now ship across all 50 states!

If you’re visiting downtown Seattle, the best way to get your hands on some SeaBear salmon is at the Made in Washington store at Pike Place Market. They went through a major remodel in late 2018 to focus on more food and drink artisans from the Pacific Northwest. SeaBear is a prominent fixture in the new store, with a deli-case serving tasting flights of their smoked salmon and a lot of gifting options.

Now to the fun part: what this salmon from Seattle actually tastes like!

The ready-to-eat salmon tastes really fresh right out of the bag. And since salmon is fattier than tuna, it’s much moister than the flaked stuff you get in a tunafish can of canned smoked salmon.

It’s also not as fishy as tunafish. There’s nothing but sea salt in the ready to eat packs, so all you taste is that true salmon flavor, amplified because of the seasoning.

Basically, this is the best pouched or canned flaked fish I’ve ever had.

The bourbon maple smoked salmon is lightly smoky, salty, and sweet. I love how balanced it is. It’s smoky, but not too smoky. It’s sweet, but not too sweet.

If you’re curious about my thoughts on all the other smoked salmon from Seattle I tried, my favorite besides the ready-to-eat pouch was the garlic lover’s smoked salmon. I would have never guessed this, but somehow that smoked salmon seems to be the moistest and most flavorful.

So while I used the bourbon maple smoke salmon in this recipe, you can definitely sub in the garlic if you’d like! I just liked it so much I wanted to eat it straight out of the pack!

What does this smoked salmon pasta taste like?

The thing I love the most about this stuffed shell recipe is that it keeps the flavor of the smoked salmon. It’s slightly smoky, but sweet, with a subtle herbaceous nuttiness at the end from the rosemary and cheese.

And I also absolutely love the crunch from the panko breadcrumbs and the crisped edges of the stuffed shell pasta.

If you’re looking for a flavorful Feast of the Seven Fishes recipe that is a mashup of Italian and Pacific Northwest flavors, this is the dish for you! And while I used smoked salmon from Seattle, you can sub any other salmon brand.

The Stuffed Shell Recipe

Serves 4 | Active time: 40 mins | Total time: 60 mins

Ingredients

~20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12 oz. box)
2 Tbsp + 2 and 1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 C chopped yellow onion
1 C chopped leek
Fresh pepper from a pepper mill
4 cloves garlic, minced
3.5 oz. ready-to-eat salmon, flaked (I used Seabear Wild Salmon) from Seattle
4 oz. smoked salmon, flaked (I used bourbon maple from Seabear Wild Salmon)
3 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 C grated gruyere cheese
1/2 C + 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese grated on the large holes of a grater
1 C ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 C panko breadcrumbs
1/4 C parsley, finely chopped
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
3 C cold milk
Pinch fresh grated nutmeg

Directions:

Step 1

Make the shells: Fill a stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 2 Tbsp salt and the shells. Cook until al dente, stirring every once in a while, about 7 minutes.

Step 2

Drain the shells and run under cold water. Arrange on wax paper-lined baking sheets to cool, separating them so they don’t stick together.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Step 4

Make the smoked salmon stuffing: Heat extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and leek, cooking until soft, about 7 minutes. Season with 1/4 tsp. salt and 5 grinds of fresh pepper from a pepper mill.

Step 5

Add half of the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Remove the mixture from the heat and put into a large mixing bowl.

Step 6

To the bowl add both salmons, 2 tsp. lemon zest, lemon juice, rosemary, ricotta, 1/2 C gruyere cheese, 2 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 3 grinds of fresh pepper from a pepper mill. Mix until it’s incorporated and the consistency of chunky mousse. Taste and season if needed.

Step 7

Once the mixture is cool, add the beaten egg. Mix to incorporate.

Step 8

In a separate bowl, mix the panko breadcrumbs, half of the parsley, and 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Step 9

Make the bechamel: Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once foaming, add the rest of the minced garlic and the remaining 1 tsp. lemon zest. Cook until fragrant.

Step 10

Add the flour and mix to coat the garlic. Once the mixture turns a light amber color, add the cold milk and whisk constantly until thick, about 10 minutes.

Step 11

Add 3/4 tsp. salt and a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg. Then add the remaining 1/2 C gruyere cheese and 1/4 C Parmesan cheese. Whisk until melted, then turn off heat.

Step 12

Ladle some of the bechamel sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish, spreading around evenly. Stuff the pasta shells with the salmon mixture and line in the casserole dish.

Step 13

Top shells with the rest of the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture and bake for 20 minutes until bubbly and browned.

Step 14

Serve with remaining fresh parsley and enjoy!

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Want more Feast of the Seven Fishes recipes?

Nutritional Facts Disclaimer: I am not a registered nutritionist and therefore these numbers are approximate. I researched the serving sizes and facts for each ingredient in this recipe (mostly using the manufacturer labels and this site), but slight variations in things like seasoning, garnishes, and substitutions can change the nutritional information. Use this information only as a general indication of your nutritional intake.

Partner Disclaimer: I was provided a package of smoked salmon goods from SeaBear Wild Salmon in exchange for a recipe. All opinions are my own and I’d never work with a brand that isn’t one I’d try on my own! Thank you for supporting the businesses that support me and make this blog possible!