Spaghetti with mussels

Serves: 7
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 0 hr 30 mins
Ingredients
  • 1.4kg mussels, scrubbed well and de-bearded
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 4 fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • Big bunch (40g) parsley, finely chopped
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1kg spaghetti
  • 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Salt & pepper

Serves 6-8

Place the scrubbed mussels in a large heavy saucepan and, over a medium heat and with the lid on, ‘steam’ them till they all open – about 3-4 minutes is all it takes. Drain them in a colander over a bowl, and set aside the liquid for later. When cool, remove the cooked mussels from their shells and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in boiling water with a few pinches of salt.

Drain, season with some salt and pepper, and add lots of olive oil to keep it from clumping together.

Next, in the same heavy saucepan you used for the mussels, heat up half the olive oil and, over a medium heat, sweat the garlic, lemon zest, chillies and parsley until soft.

Turn up the heat, add the wine and chopped tomatoes and cook until the wine cooks out – just a couple of minutes.

Finally, add the cooked mussels and the mussel cooking liquid back in, toss the sauce with the spaghetti and serve with more freshly chopped parsley.

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer