It's been a couple of weeks since my last post which is a long time between drinks at Chew Town - but I have an excuse!

Regular readers of this blog know that I manage the sponsorship team at Opera Australia. For the last six weeks the team and I put together one of our biggest free community concerts of the year - Mazda Opera in the Bowl for 10,000 Melbournians. It's a big effort for the team and has meant lots of early mornings and late nights with many a quickly made/bought meal in between tasks.

The event went off without a hitch last Saturday in Melbourne but not without a few heart palpitations and stress-filled evenings in the lead up. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen images of the fun and frivolity at the event and it was a relief to have it all over when I returned back to Sydney on Sunday.

A quick shout out to the wonderful Melbourne food bloggers Daisy from Never Too Sweet and Winston from The Hungry Excavator who I caught up with while in Melbourne for the event - love you guys!! 

When you find yourself working day and night it is hard to envisage taking the time to make exciting and flavourful food. But it really is very easy and all it takes is a little clever thinking when walking the isles of your local supermarket. This busy work period has led to the creation of a new style of Chew Town post the 'Midweek Madness Meal'. These recipes will be quick, easy and flavourful and will include speedy tricks and tips for cutting down time wherever possible.

So buy those pre-sliced swiss brown mushrooms and grab that ready to serve hot smoked salmon...we are making a tasty meal in a flash!

Fettuccine with Salmon, Mushroom and Asparagus (15mins)

SERVES 2

140g dried linguini pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
Handful pre-sliced swiss brown mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
300ml pure cream
Sml handfull chopped continental parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
150g hot smoked salmon (I bought HUON brand)

To start, fill your kettle with water and bring it to the boil. While water is heating place a pot on the stove over medium heat to warm up. Once the kettle has boiled, transfer water to the pot. Season water with salt and throw in the linguini, cooking for the time outlined on the packet - usually around 7 mins (this kettle to pot trick is one my mother often uses to speed up a midweek pasta).

While the linguini is cooking, heat olive oil in a frypan over medium-high heat and sautee mushrooms, asparagus and garlic for 3 mins. Lower heat to simmer and pour in the cream. Simmer for another 3 minutes then add parsley, salt and pepper and stir well to combine. Then remove from heat.

When linguini is cooked, strain the water from the pot and transfer the linguini into the frypan with the cream mixture. Stir the pasta through the sauce till well combined. Flake the hot smoked salmon into small pieces and stir the majority of it through the pasta reserving a few pieces to place on top of the dish after plating. Divide the pasta between two bowls, top with the remaining salmon, add a sprinkle of chopped parsley and enjoy!