Mussels recipe – with spaghetti and tomato sauce

Mussels are a gift from the ocean, the edible jewels of the sea.

Mussels are one of those foods that after trying for the first time, you wonder why you have not been enjoying these marvelous molluscs sooner.

This easy mussels recipe is fragrant, delicious, elegant, and one of those meals you simply don’t want to end.

One of the most important things with any mussels recipe is to ensure they are cleaned correctly before cooking.

This may sound daunting but in fact is very easy. We have added a video below from Becky Selengut to show you how!

This mussels recipe is suitable for a weekend supper treat, or a dinner party with family and friends.

Ingredients

•1kg fresh mussels.
•400 grammes spaghetti or linguine.
•1 cup dry white wine.
•handfull fresh parsley or dill, finely chopped.
•2 large cloves garlic. crushed.
•1 red chilli pepper – deseeded and finely chopped.
•1 can good quality Italian chopped tomatoes.
• good quality extra-virgin olive oil.
•Sea Salt & Freshly ground black pepper to taste.

How to make this delicious mussels recipe

First job is to clean and de-beard the mussels. Check out this video for easy step by step instructions.

It Really is as simple as that!

1.Place a large saucepan onto a medium heat setting. Add a small glug of olive oil and one of the garlic cloves. Lightly fry the garlic. When the garlic starts to change colour remove from pan with a slotted spoon.

2.Add the cleaned mussels to the pan, let them sit for a minute or two then add the dry white wine. (I find it necessary to try a small glass or two of the white wine at this point, just to be certain of its taste and quality…and sometimes even three!)

3.Cover and let cook for about five minutes all the mussels have opened. Make sure you check and discard any that don’t open. Transfer the cooked mussels to a separate dish and drain the mussels liquid into another bowl.

4.Pour the reserved liquid through a sieve or a jug covered with muslin to remove any grit and particles. Retain the cooking liquid in the bowl for use later in this mussels recipe..

5.De shell the mussels, using an empty shell as a pair of small tongs to remove them

6.In the large saucepan add a small glug of extra virgin olive oil and warm over medium heat.

7.Add the other clove of garlic and chilli pepper to the pan. When the garlic changes colour, as before, remove it from the pan and carefully add the chopped tomatoes. Allow the tomato sauce to cook gently for around ten minutes.

8.Add a ladle full of the mussel cooking liquid and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

9.At this point add the mussels into the sauce, cook for a further five minutes. Remove Pan from the heat and set aside.

10.In a large saucepan add enough water to sufficiently cover the spaghetti. Bring to the boil, add a couple pinches of salt and cook for the amount of time advised on the pasta packaging. check one minute before advised time to make sure it is still firm to the bite (al dente). Nobody likes soggy, overcooked pasta. Drain the pasta in a colander or sieve, reserving a ladle full of the cooking liquid for the sauce.

11.Reheat the sauce slowly over a low heat and add the pasta. Gently combine the pasta with the sauce until evenly coated. If your sauce is too thick and claggy, let it down and loosen it slightly, with some of the reserved cooking liquid. Add just a little at a time until you achieve the required consistency.

12.Scatter over the chopped parsley or dill. Add a few grinds of black pepper.

Voila the perfect mussels recipe.