Saturday, November 5, 2016

Pasta with Mussels #Recipe @PegCochran

I'm sure there are some people who would consider craving mussels a bit strange!  And I wouldn't blame you.  But for some reason last Friday I decided that that was what I wanted for dinner!  Hubby doesn't care for mussels but he was away for the weekend so the timing was perfect.

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver although tweaked a bit to accommodate what I had to work with and how I wanted to cook this.  He is a big proponent of doing four things at once (while the water boils, chop the garlic...) while I like to have my ingredients ready beforehand or I feel like I'm one of those entertainers trying to keep a dozen plates spinning at once.  I cut the recipe in half but I will give you the ingredients for making this for two as in the original recipe  It still made quite a lot.  (And yes, I ate it all--I didn't think it would keep all that well for lunch the next day.)

Ingredients:

extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, chopped (I added this from another recipe)
1 kg washed and debearded mussels (this is about two pounds)
1 - 2 pinches red chili flakes
1 anchovy fillet or a squeeze of anchovy paste
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
splash of white wine (added from another recipe)
250 g linguine (I made 4 ounces for myself so make this 8 ounces)
parsley, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

Start the water boiling for your pasta.  When it boils, add pasta and cook until al dente.  I would cook the pasta when the sauce was almost done because "the sauce waits for the pasta, the pasta never waits for the sauce."

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the garlic and onion.  (I had minced jarred garlic so that is what I used.)   Ideally don't let the garlic brown.  Add the chili flakes (I added them to the finished dish) and the anchovy.  (I didn't have anchovies and didn't want to buy a whole can for one fillet so I used a squeeze of anchovy paste.)  Squeeze the cherry tomatoes over the pan and toss them in.  (I forgot to cut them in half.)  Add the splash of white wine if using.



Add the washed and debearded mussels to the skillet.  Cover and cook until the mussels are open.  Discard any mussels that don't open.




Drain your cooked linguine (cooked al dente) reserving a bit of pasta water in case you need it (I didn't.)  Return pasta to pan and add the mussels and sauce.  Give it a good stir.  Put over a low burner and cook for a minute or two.  (Although I don't see why you couldn't add the pasta to the skillet you cooked the mussels in instead of dirtying up the pasta pan which just takes a swish of hot water and soap to clean.)


Sprinkle with chopped parsley, add salt and pepper to taste and serve!




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6 comments:

  1. Back when I was growing up, mussels were those pesky things you cut your toes on at the shore. Now I'm hooked. Not long ago I discovered my market has several varieties of frozen mussels, both in the shell and shelled (I first noticed them because they came from Bantry in County Cork, where you can see the mussel beds out in the harbor when you drive through the town), which means you always have a quick meal in the freezer. This sounds like a tasty recipe!

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    1. I will have to look for those. That would make it easy for me to whip up some for myself and hubby can have his favorite meal--hot dogs, beans and cole slaw!

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  2. Wow. I would have gladly devoured that dish with you! Sounds fabulous.

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  3. Everyone needs the occasional time when there is no one else to consider when planning what to eat!

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