Pasta With Mussels Sauce Recipes

PASTA WITH MUSSELS IN TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Pulse tomatoes with juices in food processor just a few times to break down into a coarse purée; set aside. Bring large pot of water to boil for pasta.
• Meanwhile, in a wide skillet or saucepan with lid, combine crushed garlic clove and shallot with white wine. Bring to a boil and add mussels. Cover and cook, shaking pan from time to time, 2 to 4 minutes, or until mussels open up. Check mussels after 2 minutes; transfer open mussels to a bowl using tongs. Cover pan again, wait another minute, and repeat until all mussels have opened.
• Leave mussels to cool in bowl until easily removed from shells. Remove half from shells and leave other half intact. Taste a mussel; if it is sandy, give them all a very quick rinse and drain in a colander. Transfer to a bowl and keep covered while you make tomato sauce.
• Place a strainer over another bowl, line with cheesecloth and strain the liquid in the pan into bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup. Rinse and dry pan.
• Heat olive oil over medium heat in pan and add minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, just until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add tomatoes, thyme or marjoram (or both), and sugar.
• Turn heat up to medium-high and cook, stirring often, 5 to 10 minutes, until tomatoes have cooked down slightly. Add 1/2 cup broth from mussels, stir together and bring to a simmer. Taste and add salt as needed (you may not need to add any). Tip all mussels, shelled and unshelled, into sauce, cover and turn heat to very low or remove from heat if not serving right away. Keep warm while you cook pasta.
• Warm a large bowl for the pasta. When water for pasta comes to a rolling boil, salt generously and add pasta. Cook al dente, following the directions on the package. Drain and toss in the warm bowl with tomato sauce, mussels and parsley. Serve right away.

MUSSELS IN SPICY RED SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper, and saute until fragrant, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and tomato sauce, increase the heat to high, cover and bring to a boil.
• Add the mussels and replace the lid. Cook over high heat 3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir once gently. Continue to cook until the mussels are completely open and firmly cooked, about 4 minutes more.
• Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the mussels gently from the pot to a large bowl with a Chinese wire mesh skimmer. Return the pot to the heat and increase the heat to high. Boil for a minute or 2, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Pour the sauce over the mussels and serve immediately.
• Place the canned tomatoes in a large bowl and place your (clean) hands in the bowl and crush the tomatoes so they breakup into a range of small pieces.
• In a 5-quart Dutch oven heat the olive oil over medium heat until it is fragrant, but before it smokes, about 40 seconds. Add the bay leaves and stir them in the oil until they begin to brown, about 10 seconds. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until it starts to turn golden brown, then add the onions, carrots, and oregano. Cook the vegetables until they are very brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally, just enough to prevent them from scorching.
• Add the crushed tomatoes with their juice, the tomato paste, salt and pepper, and 1 1/2 cups of water, (white wine or clam juice can be added depending on the intended use) and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered until the sauce level has reduced by 2 or 3 inches and the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Cook the sauce for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick.
• Remove from heat, cool down in the pot, then when at room temperature, transfer to a sealed plastic container and refrigerate until ready to use.
• This sauce will keep 10 days in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator.
• Using my recipe for basic Red Sauce, you can make a quick and spicy "fra diavolo" sauce that is delicious drizzled over grilled squid and other seafood. For equipment you will need a 3-quart saucepan and a wooden spoon.
• Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart saucepan slightly over medium heat and saute the garlic and crushed red pepper until the garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown, about 40 seconds.
• Add the Red Sauce, clam juice, and salt, to taste, and simmer, stirring occasionally over medium-low heat, until the sauce returns to the thickness and quantity of the Red Sauce, about 15 minutes.

SPICY LINGUINE WITH CLAMS AND MUSSELS

Steps:

• Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the butter and parsley and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Sauce: In a large skillet or saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the wine and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth, red pepper flakes, clams and mussels. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook until all the shellfish have opened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened shellfish.
• Using tongs, remove the shellfish from the pan and reserve. Season the cooking liquid with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour the shellfish cooking liquid over the pasta and toss well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange the reserved shellfish on top of the pasta and serve.

MUSSELS AND PASTA WITH CREAMY WINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook linguine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes.
• Place mussel meat in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
• Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Gently warm the mussels until they release their water, about 3 minutes. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
• Wipe out the skillet with paper towels. Melt remaining 3 teaspoons butter in the skillet. Cut any large mushrooms into smaller pieces. Add to the skillet and sprinkle with pepper. Cook until starting to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour wine into the skillet, add red pepper flakes, and cook until wine has reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in cream and add mussels. Heat until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Use tongs to lift linguine out of the pot and add to the skillet with some of the cooking water. Toss to coat with sauce. Plate and garnish with lemon zest.

PASTA WITH MUSSELS SAUCE

Steps:

• Wash mussels in several changes of fresh water; using a small knife, remove"beards".
• Soak mussels for about 30 minutes in cold water containing a handful of salt& a handful of flour.
• This will remove any sand inside the mussels.
• In a large saucepan, stir together the wine, garlic, 2 tbsp of the parsley& the pepper.
• Drain the mussels& add to pot.
• Cook over high heat until steaming; reduce heat to low, cover& steam until shells open (about 5- 7 minutes).
• Discard any that don't open.
• Using a fork, remove the mussels from their shells, letting the liquid from the shells drain back into the pot.
• If you want, you can reserve 5 or 6 unopened as a garnish.
• Set the mussels aside in a warm serving dish.
• Cook the liquid in the pot over high heat until reduced to about 3/4 cup.
• Stir in butter, lemon juice& tomato paste; pour over mussels.
• Garnish with remaining parsley& serve hot over your favourite pasta.

PASTA WITH SPICY MUSSELS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
• The following step is optional, but it works really well.
• After you’ve given the mussels a quick scrub and pulled off any of the beards, place them in a large bowl filled with cold water and several ice cubes.
• Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the water, toss in the squeezed halves, and add the heaping tsp of salt.
• Allow mussels to sit for about ½ an hour, and they will “spit” out any sand or other stuff that might be inside their shells.
• (This is an old Neapolitan trick my husband’s mother used for all shellfish).
• After about ½ hour, drain mussels, give then a quick rinse under come running cold water and set aside while you make the broth.
• Preheat large skillet over medium heat, and add olive oil.
• Next add the minced shallots, and sauté for a minute or two.
• Add the sliced garlic, and crushed red pepper to taste, and sauté for another minute, careful not to let the garlic get too brown.
• Slowly add the fish stock.
• (If using wine and stock, add the wine first, bring it up to a boil and then add the fish stock) Let the stock simmer for a few minutes with the shallot and garlic, and then add the diced tomatoes.
• When sauce comes to a boil, add the mussels to the pan, give then a quick toss, and put the lid on and let stem for about 3-5 minutes.
• Add pasta to boiling water and cook for 7 minutes, or until done to your liking.
• When mussels have all opened, turn off the heat, give them another stir to get all the liquid up from the bottom, add the fresh basil and put the lid back until the pasta is finished.
• Drain pasta.
• To Serve: Unless you have an enormous pasta-serving bowl, here’s what I suggest.
• Add a couple ladles of the cooking broth in the bottom of your serving bowl and add about half of the pasta.
• Scoop out about half of the mussels with broth and lay over top the pasta until bowl is filled.
• Add the remaining pasta back into the skillet with the rest of the broth and mussels.