You’ll enjoy the tangy lemon and pungent garlic flavors of classic Italian piccata captured in this simple baked Trifecta salmon pasta piccata recipe. You don't need a background in culinary or fancy equipment to achieve amazing flavors and bring some variety into your meal prep.
Once you start preparing a few quick sauces in your kitchen, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how simple dishes can come together with little effort.
The foundation of any piccata sauce is lemon, butter, and capers; this classically bright and briny flavor combination pairs well with chicken, fish, shrimp and tofu! Classic Piccata utilizes veal or chicken, pounded thin dredged into flour and egg, then pan-fried and served with the acidic piccata sauce.
Piccata flavor is easy to capture and can be prepared with relatively few ingredients without the need of pan-frying.
This flavorsome sauce is a great one to have in your recipe arsenal. Prepared and tossed with salmon, broccoli, and pasta, it's a unique and fun way to diversify your meal prep!
Piccata Sauce:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook your pasta of choice according to packaged instructions, be sure to refer to the nutrition label for appropriate serving size for cooked pasta. This quick check can help you stay within your macro goals for the day.
To prepare the salmon, remove from packaging into a bowl and shred into large chunks with a fork. Set aside for now and prepare the sauce.
For now open up your Trifecta Broccoli and set aside as well.
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat, add butter, onions, and garlic. Sweat onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes until aromatic.
Add fennel seed and rosemary, cooking for 2 more minutes over medium heat, then add in the lemon juice, parsley, and capers, and cook another 1 minute. These ingredients will help season the sauce; the acidity from the lemon juice cuts through the fattiness of the butter, the capers add salt, and the parsley adds amazingly fresh flavor.
Stir in the broth or water then bring to a soft simmer, and cook until mixture emulsified (about 2 minutes.). Remove from the heat and taste, adjust if needed.
If you're sauce breaks, or isn't emulsifying, whisk in 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch.
In the baking platter, gently toss the pasta, salmon, broccoli, and piccata sauce, then top with mozzarella or parmesan.
Place the dish in the oven and bake for 5 minutes until the cheese has melted and salmon is warmed through.
If you love this dish try it with Trifecta Chicken! You can also top it with bread crumbs for extra flavor before baking or mix in other delicious Trifecta Vegetables!
Serve the pasta immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 6 days. Reheat in a microwave for 2-3 minutes.
To utilize this recipe in your weekly meal prep, I recommended skipping the baking step and instead pre-portion out servings in the following amount (reflecting the same nutrition as listed in the recipe card for 1 serving):
Stick to your calorie goals and budget with our Meal Prep Ingredients. Pre-cooked and ready to heat, these ingredients are organic, sustainably sourced, and minimally seasoned to maximize your meal prep.