Pasta with Salmon in Tomato-Cream Sauce

Haven't posted a recipe in a while. I made this last Saturday, largely improvising.

Pasta with Salmon in Tomato-Cream Sauce

• 7-8 oz. boneless salmon fillets, preferably with skin
• 3 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for cooking the salmon
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
• About 3 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 15-oz. can tomatoes, pureed (buy whole or diced and puree them yourself in a food processor or blender)
• Two generous handfuls of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• Dash of cayenne (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Up to 1/3 cup fresh heavy cream
• 8 oz. short pasta, such as penne or tagliatelle

1. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and grill or saute it to desired doneness. You may want to undercook it a little since it will get cooked some more in the sauce. If the salmon has its skin, make sure it gets browned and fairly crispy. Set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and munch on it while preparing the rest of the ingredients. Break up the salmon into bite-size pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a saute pan on medium heat, add the bell pepper and mushrooms and saute, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are starting to brown.
3. Add the garlic and saute until the garlic is just starting to change color. Add one of the parsley handfuls.
4. Pour in the wine, bring to a boil and let about half of it boil off.
5. Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil again, and turn the heat down as low as it'll go.
6. Season with salt and pepper, add the cayenne if using, cover, and simmer 15 min., stirring occasionally.
7. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al-dente.
8. Uncover the pan, turn the heat up slightly so it keeps bubbling, and start adding the cream, one tablespoon at a time, and stirring continuously, until you have the color and consistency you like. I usually end up using about two tablespoons.
9. Add the salmon pieces, stir thoroughly and let it heat through for a minute or two.
10. Drain the pasta, add it to the pan, and stir, gently but thoroughly, until the pasta starts to take on the sauce.
11. Serve sprinkled with the remaining parsley.

Makes two generous entree-sized servings.

Wine: Vernaccia di San Gimignano, if you can find it. Otherwise, any white with good acidity to cut through the cream and stand up to the tomatoes.