Spaghetti With Mussels Recipes

SPAGHETTI ALLA VODKA WITH MUSSELS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Add the heavy cream to the sauce and simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the vodka. Add the mussels, cover and cook until the mussels open, about 5 minutes (discard any mussels that do not open). Remove from the heat; keep the pot covered.
• Meanwhile, after adding the cream to the tomato sauce, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook as the label directs for al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain. Add the spaghetti to the pot with the mussels, along with 1/4 cup cooking water. Cook over medium heat, tossing and adding more cooking water, a few tablespoons at a time, if the sauce seems too thick, until the spaghetti is well coated. Season with salt.
• Divide the spaghetti and mussels among shallow bowls. Sprinkle with the parsley and more red pepper flakes.

SPAGHETTI WITH MUSSELS (SPAGHETTI CON LE COZZE)

Steps:

• 1. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt.
• 2. In a 12-inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until light golden brown, about a minute. Add the wine, raise the heat, and bring to a boil, then add the mussels. Cook, stirring and tossing, until all of the mussels have opened, about 4 minutes.
• 3. Meanwhile, drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until al dente; drain well.
• 4. Add the pasta to the pan with the mussels and cook over high heat for 1 minute. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and serve immediately.

SPAGHETTI WITH MUSSELS AND BACON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and shallots and cook until the bacon starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and red pepper flakes, increase the heat to high and cook until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands, and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
• Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook as the label directs; drain. Pile the parsley, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt on a cutting board and use a large knife to mince and mash them together.
• Add the mussels to the tomato sauce and stir to coat, then cover. As the mussels open (2 to 6 minutes), use tongs to transfer them to a bowl; discard any that do not open. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss until heated through, about 1 minute. Add the parsley-garlic mixture and toss. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with the mussels.

SPAGHETTI WITH MUSSELS, LEMON, AND SHALLOTS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta water.
• Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat 4 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat; saute shallots, red-pepper flakes, and parsley stems until tender, about 5 minutes. Add wine; cook until liquid is reduced by one-third, about 2 minutes. Add mussels, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and steam until they open, 5 to 6 minutes; discard any that do not open after 6 minutes.
• Add pasta to mussels, tossing until well combined. Add pasta water, and continue to toss and cook over medium-high heat until sauce has reduced and coats pasta. Stir in parsley leaves and lemon zest and juice. Stir in remaining oil, and serve immediately.

SPAGHETTI WITH MUSSELS AND WHITE BEANS

Steps:

• Heat butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices, crushing tomatoes lightly with your hands. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring often, until sauce thickens, 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid.
• Add beans and wine to sauce. Cook, stirring often, until wine has almost evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add mussels and 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until mussels open, about 4 minutes (discard any that do not open).
• Add pasta and 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid to mussels and stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta. Divide among bowls. Drizzle with oil; garnish with parsley.

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.

SPAGHETTI WITH MUSSELS

Steps:

• If you use the fresh mussels just bought from the fish monger - or the counter of the supermarket cool - let them clean it directly from them. When you are at home, I recommend you to check yourself again, something can escape and wash them again.
• Boil the water (not salted) for spaghetti.
• In a large pan put the peeled crushed clove of garlic and add three spoons of EVOO and brown the garlic.
• Remove the garlic and put the mussels together with some minced parsley, cover with a lid and let open them (it will take only a few minutes).
• As soon as they are open, turn off the flame.
• Remove the mussels from the shell and set them aside with a little of their water (you can keep them off with the shell to put it on the pasta). Filter the mussels baking liquid with a narrow mesh strainer to remove any impurities.
• Put the liquid back in the pan and turn on the flame only for a few minutes before draining the spaghetti directly into the liquid. This is the most important step: put the spaghetti in boiling water without salt, or just with a pinch, and cook for about 7/8 minutes.
• Take spaghetti from the water with a fork and transfer it to the pan with the mussel liquid where you will finish the cooking by adding, if necessary, cooking water to the spaghetti.
• When you miss 1 minute at the end of the cooking, join the mussels, the chopped parsley and a generous black ground pepper.