Snapper with Dijon Cream Sauce over Fresh Spinach Pasta

So we had “Snapper Tips” in the case at work last week. They were the little tail pieces that were trimmed off of some gorgeous Queen Snapper fillets. While it might not be a complete fillet to perch itself in the center of my plate, I decided that it would be perfect over pasta.

A bag of fresh baby spinach in the fridge sparked the idea for a big batch of spinach pasta. I used a recipe from Chasing Delicious and it came out beautifully. I never make my pasta dough in the food processor (I like to do it the traditional way and dump it all out on the counter), but this was an easy method and it definitely came together quickly. I did find that it required a bit of additional flour, which I kneaded into the dough by hand.

The Snapper was already in perfect little pieces. I dusted them with flour and got them ready to sear in a pan over high heat with a scant amount of oil. I browned them on each side, transferred them to an oven-safe plate, and let them finish cooking at 350⁰ while I made the sauce.

Dijon Cream Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 cloves minced fresh garlic
1 minced shallot
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Fresh thyme

I started with the same pan I used for the fish. The bits in the pan will add flavor to the sauce. Over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and shallots and stir until tender, but not brown. Add the wine to the pan. Whisk in the mustard (I used a whole grain Dijon) and the evaporated milk. (The lower water content in the evaporated milk yields a thicker, creamier sauce.) Simmer it for a few minutes while stirring or hold it over very low heat until you are ready to use it, if needed.