Ingredients for 4 people:
- 400 g. of spaghetti or linguine
- 500 g. of mussels
- a clove of garlic
- two peppers
- 20 g of parsley
- a lemon
- salt
Preparation:
Pasta alle cozze is a dish of the Italian culinary tradition that is prepared using fresh mussels, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, chilli pepper and parsley. It is a simple but very tasty dish. To prepare pasta with mussels, first of all you need to clean the mussels, eliminating any sand and fine linen residues. You can use fresh or already cleaned and frozen mussels, but for a satisfactory result I recommend using only fresh mussels.
Put them in a saucepan over low heat covered with the lid and let the mussels open. Check them one by one to avoid that there is any with sand or that it is not fresh. If some have not opened, be very careful and handle them away from the pan because they may not be fresh and have a lot of sand inside. Set aside 20 to decorate the edge of the serving plate and open them well and remove a part of the valve. Completely free the other mussels from the shells. From cooking the mussels, their sapid liquid will result, filter it and keep it for a while in a glass to allow any other residues to settle.
Prepare the sauce by placing the oil, chopped chilli pepper, shelled mussels, minced garlic in a large pan and deglaze with the mussel water to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the water from the mussels and the parsley at the end of cooking to obtain a still liquid sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. When the pasta is still very al dente, drain it, add the chopped fresh parsley and sauté for a minute in the pan where you prepared the mussel sauce until the ingredients are well blended.
The pasta with mussels is ready, serve on a serving plate and garnish the edges with the mussels and lemon wedges. It is a very tasty and aromatic dish, perfect for sea lovers.
Enhance this tasty seafood dish by accompanying it with a good glass of fresh dry white wine, such as Vermentino della Gallura or Greco di Tufo, to enhance the savory flavors of pasta and mussels.
Enjoy your meal!
