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Pasta with mussels

Spaghetti with Mussels, Napoli-Style

Italian pasta alla Napoli with treasures from the sea. Italians have a kind of magic—turning the simplest ingredients into something extraordinary. But even my modest attempt at this pasta was enough to carry me back to a warm September evening in a tiny, cozy trattoria on the Sicilian coast.

UnicornSteak

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Spaghetti

Water

1.5

Olive oil

Mussels (Marinated)

Dry white wine

Cherry tomatoes

Garlic

Onion

Chili pepper (Half a pod)

0.5

Fresh oregano

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 20 % 1 g

Fats 20 % 1 g

Carbohydrates 60 % 3 g

24 kcal

GI: 33 / 67 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 20 min

Step 1:

Peel the garlic and slice it into thin rounds. Rinse the chili pepper, cut off the stem, and scrape out the seeds.
Step 2:

First, infuse the olive oil with flavor. Heat it in a skillet and fry the garlic until golden.
Step 3:

Once the garlic takes on a little color, add the finely chopped onion. Cook for a couple of minutes until soft.
Step 4:

Next, add half of the finely chopped chili pepper—or toss in the whole thing if you're craving real heat. Cook the vegetables for another minute.
Step 5:

Pull the stems off the cherry tomatoes, rinse, and pat dry. Add them to the skillet.
Step 6:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Stand the spaghetti up in the pot and gently press it down into the boiling water with a spatula as it softens. Cook according to the package directions—mine was ready about 8 minutes after the water came back to a boil.
Step 7:

Pour the dry white wine into the skillet and add the mussels. Cook over high heat for 5 to 6 minutes to cook off most of the wine—you want a little sauce left behind. Season with salt if needed.
Step 8:

Drain the spaghetti in a colander. Twirl the pasta into little nests on the plates, top with the mussels and tomatoes, spoon the sauce over, and garnish with fresh oregano or basil.

You might argue that you can't make real Italian pasta away from Italy—that it has to be true capellini with sun-ripened cherry tomatoes, young Italian wine, and fresh mussels still in the shell. Better yet, swap the mussels for just-caught langoustines. But as they say, you work with what you have, and with these ingredients I ended up with a genuinely lovely dish. It goes without saying that Italians fry only in olive oil—the one rule is that it must be extra virgin (first cold-pressed). If you like, finish the pasta with a little finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan before serving, and pour a glass of chilled white wine alongside. Right before you dig in, crush the tomatoes with a fork and stir their juices into the pasta. Buon appetito!