Today’s recipe is yet another classic of Italian cuisine. It is originally from the South, where fresh mussels are very common, but it is one of those dishes that is now widely eaten throughout the country. It is a very simple recipe, which doesn’t require many ingredients and, like all simple recipes, needs to be made with high quality ingredients to get the best results. Some people cook the mussels together with the sauce from the beginning, but I like to open them separately to get rid of any residual sand inside the shells. I have already shared this little secret with you in my post on Spaghetti with Vongole a little while ago. This is one of my father’s favourite dishes… so here you have it: Spaghetti with Mussels. Enjoy!
Spaghetti with Mussels
How to make a classic seafood pasta: Spaghetti with Mussels!
Ingredients
- 1 kg – 2.2 lbs. mussels cleaned
- 600 gms – 1 1/3 lbs. tomatoes diced
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp parlsey chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 360 gms – 12.7 oz. Spaghetti
Instructions
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Put the cleaned mussels in salty water for at least 2 hours, so that they get rid of the sand inside.
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Sauté the garlic cloves in a frying pan with the extra virgin olive oil for about a minute, or until just golden.
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Put the mussels in a pot, cover with a lid and put on a high flame to open up.
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When open, remove them from the liquid and filter the liquid through a sieve (you will need this for your sauce, so do not discard it!).
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You can either keep the mussels in their shells or remove them from the shells. I usually remove half of them and keep the rest for decoration.
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Add the mussels and the filtered liquid to the warm tomato sauce. Cook on a high flame for 5 minutes.
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Cook the pasta following the steps on How to cook pasta al dente in the Techniques page of this site, but drain it 1 minute before it is cooked as it will finish cooking together with the sauce. Put the drained pasta in the frying pan with the sauce and mix it well while cooking it on a slow flame for 1 or 2 minutes.
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Serve immediately with more freshly ground pepper!
Hello. A friend of mine told me about your blog and “Cooking With Mr. C.” on Facebook. I now have two favorites. Keep up the great work. Denise
I would definitely love this with delicious mussels. Have a nice weekend, Manu! 🙂
Manu, how delicious. I could get a fork and dive in!
I plan on trying. I might be able to handle it. I am not a very good cook, and I do better keeping things simple and easy.
I’m Italian even though you would never know it by the name (born in Italy and all). I was just surfing around for what to do with a few spare mussels. And came across your blog. This recipe is just about how my mom would make it. I’m gonna check out your other recipes on your site. So far, I like what I see very much.
Made this tonight- it was simple and spot on. I actually used canned diced tomatoes since it’s winter and fresh ones aren’t the best. I loved the trick to open the mussels first and add them later. This made the broth perfect for a nice piece of Italian bread! Will keep and make again!!