Mussel Spaghetti

Mussel Spaghetti 

A recipe originally from Jamie Oliver's "grandad", a fresh dish of Mussel Linguine (Linguine con cozze di Nonno). A dish also featured in Jamie Oliver's restaurant. I have made this dish with a little twist of butter, white wine and fresh chillies!



Serves 2

Ingredients
    •   Extra virgin oil
    •   3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
    •   3 finely chopped, fresh birds eye chillies (or 1 - 2 pinches of dried chilli flakes)
    •   2 anchovy fillets
    •   12 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
    •   250g fresh spaghetti or linguine
    •   1 kg mussels (black or green), washed and debearded
    •   A small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
    •   Sea salt
    •   Freshly ground black pepper
    •   Splash of dry white wine
    •   A knob of butter 
      
Method 

1. Boil a pot of salted water. Pour a few drizzles of extra virgin oil into a huge pan on a medium heat.

2. Add the garlic, chillies and anchovies until it begins to fry. Anchovies should be melted nicely but the garlic should not take on any colour. Stir lightly.

3. Squeeze the tomatoes lightly, and add into pan. Add a knob of butter and give the pan a light toss.
4. Add the spaghetti or linguine into the pot of boiling water and cook until al dente.
5. Add the mussels to the pan of this amazing sauce. Add a splash of white wine and toss the pan or stir through quickly. Place a lid on top immediately and cook until all the mussels are open.
6. Discard any unopened mussels. The pasta will be a little under al dente now.
7. Drain the pasta  to a colander, saving a little of the cooking water in the pot. Return the pasta into the pot. Add freshly cracked pepper and parsley.
8. Pour the mussels over the pasta and mix everything well. Place the pot on low heat for an extra minute. Lightly drizzle some olive oil and serve immediately with some sauce over it.

Perfetto!