Mussel Linguine (Linguine con le cozze)

The other day when my boyfriend and were out shopping, I turned my back from one moment and he had nipped off to the fish counter and added a bag of mussels to our basket. I was, at first, a little worried, as cooking mussels hasn’t ever really been my thing – the only good recipe I know is for stuffed mussels, and it is very difficult to pull off at home. Because of this, I always buy the ready made ones.

So, when we got home I googled a load of quick and easy mussel recipes, as I love to experiment with new ideas, and I am always up for a challenge. I eventually decided to base my meal on Jamie Oliver’s recipe, which struck me as being particularly delicious. As I always do, I played around with the original recipe, adding ingredients and changing up the cooking method to suit my own tastes and style.

This recipe is originally Italian, and calls for spaghetti, but I prefer the slightly thicker, flatter noodles of linguine, and I think it goes better with seafood sauces. In the end, this was a really simple mussel pasta recipe that was perfect for a midweek meal.

So here is my quick and easy take on linguine con le cozze!

INGREDIENTS

● Extra virgin olive oil

● 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

● 1-2 pinches of crumbled dried chilli

● 1 anchovy fillet

● 12 baby plum tomatoes, cut in half

● 250 g linguine

● 500 g mussels, cleaned

● 10 g butter

● freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

TO SERVE

● a small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

METHOD:

1. Bring a saucepan of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
2. In separate frying pan, heat a splash or two of extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat. Gently fry the garlic, chilli and anchovy, until the anchovy melts and the garlic begins sizzle (but before it starts to brown). Add the plum tomatoes, and gently squeeze with a spoon to release some juice. The tomato juice will combine with the oil and take on the flavours of the garlic, chilli and anchovy to form a light, delicate but delicious sauce.
3. Put the linguine into the boiling water, and follow the instructions on the packet (usually needs around 7-9 minutes of cooking time). While the pasta cooks, add the mussels to the tomato sauce. Toss them gently, then cover the pan with a lid and cook thoroughly, until all the shells have opened. If any refuse to open once the majority have, don’t eat them and chuck them in the bin.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, saving a little of the cooking water, then put the pasta back into a large pan, and add the tomato and mussel sauce. Mix well, then add the butter for extra flavour. Keep the pot on a very low heat while you finish the dish, to fully cook the pasta and help it fully absorb the flavour of the mussels. Add the chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve right away!

Despite my initial nervousness about cooking mussels at home, this was a wonderfully light but flavourful meal which is really easy to put together and really takes no time at all. If you are looking for a quick and easy mussel pasta, this is the one. The combination of mussels, garlic and tomatoes gives a touch of class to an otherwise simple dish, and I would heartily recommend giving it a go, particularly if you’ve been nervous about cooking mussels like I was! We washed it all down with some Italian white wine, which complimented the seafood pasta sauce perfectly. Happy cooking!