Pasta with Mussels in White Wine
INGREDIENTS (2 Pax)
- 12 Mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
- 2 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/2 Red Chili or Crushed Red Pepper
- Spaghetti or Linguine
- White Wine
- Unsalted butter
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- Salt and Pepper
DIRECTIONS
PREPARE (15 minutes)
- Scrubbed and de-beard the mussels.
- Thinly slice the 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 red chilli.
COOK (25 minutes)
- Cook the spaghetti with slightly salted water until it is almost soft (because you will need to cook it again later). Drain the pasta. To avoid overcooking and pasta sticking together – rinse it with cold water, add a little olive oil and toss it.
- Mussels and Broth:
- Bring to boil about 2 cups of white wine.
- Add the mussels, cover and cook over high heat, stir the mussels a few times, until the mussels open, about 4-5 minutes.
- Mussels:
- Drain the mussels and set it aside. Discard any unopened mussels. You can choose to remove the mussels from their shells
- Melt butter (about 3 tablespoons) and pour over the mussels. Toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap.
- Heat the 2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil in a pan/pot. Add the thinly sliced garlic and cook over low heat just until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the red pepper/red chilli and cook for 1 minute longer.
- Slowly pour in the reserved mussel broth into the pan/pot. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and simmer over moderately high heat until the sauce is reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes.
- Add the buttered mussels and the hot spaghetti to the ‘cooking’ sauce.
- Toss over low heat until the pasta is uniformly coated.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve.
