Brown Rice Pasta in a Lemon Cream Sauce with Asparagus and Smoked Salmon

Whenever the picky eater is out for the night I take the opportunity to make a dish with fish. He's not a fan and I am. I found this recipe on Epicurious and made some slight changes. Instead of Pappardelle I used Brown Rice Penne Pasta. Instead of a heavy cream I used a light cream. Instead of smoked salmon I used dried smoked salmon. Close enough.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound asparagus (cut into 2 inch pieces)
1 pound of brown rice pasta
dried smoked salmon, shreaded into bite size pieces
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 lemons (1 tsp lemon zest, 3 tbsp lemon juice)
3/4 cup light cream
salt and pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil for pasta and asparagus. Cook asparagus just before they become tender, 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Cook pasta al dente.

In a smaller sauce pot melt butter and add shallots. Cook until softened. Stir in cream and zest and simmer until thickened. Stir in lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pot. Over low heat mix, in the cooked asparagus, chopped salmon, and lemon cream sauce to pasta. Toss gently until the pasta is heated through. It is ready to serve. Top with parmesan and pepper.

RATING
This was a tricky one. Thankfully the picky eater was unavailable to comment. I enjoyed this recipe. The lemon complimented the asparagus and smoked salmon very nicely. I will be honest and say that I made some shortcuts to the actual recipe. I didn't take the time to make the sauce properly. It didn't turn out as creamy as it should have. This was also the first time I have tried Brown Rice pasta. I can't say I like it. Maybe I over cooked it but I found it very soggy. The kid did not like this recipe at all. His comment about his rating "The only reason I've giving this a 3 is because I'm hungry." I was happy to hear that he was taking his job rating seriously, but not happy with the rating itself. He did pick out and eat all the asparagus but unless you have a child that enjoys smoked salmon I would pass on this dish. The dog happily cleaned off the kids plate.
I will try this pasta again but the next time I'll follow the recipe more closely, use a different pasta and choose smoked-salmon-loving company.