Let me tell you some of the latest dilemmas in my life:
I love cooking with fresh ingredients, but I can't afford to buy organic everything all the time.
I am *this* close to making my own pasta, but I have yet to purchase a rolling pin.
I am pretty much against using fatty processed foods like cream cheese, heavy cream, or mayo, but somehow every other recipe I stumble upon calls for one of these ingredients (example: cheesecake, peanut butter tarts, mushroom soup, potato salad).
I know, what a difficult life. But I am very lucky because some of the freshest ingredients are also simplest to prepare. After all, you buy them fresh so their natural flavors can shine through, right? And when it comes to natural flavors, nothing beats the good old shellfish like clams or mussels. Their juices tossed with dry white wine, sweet shallots, fragrant parsley and thick linguine make for one of my favorite dishes of all times. Enjoy!
Makes 2-3 servings
2 pounds fresh mussels
1 large shallot, diced
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Olive oil
Dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)
Salt and pepper
1. Wash mussels by brushing the shell in running water. Drain.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium. Add a dash of olive oil and cook shallots and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. In the meantime, bring a large pot of salt water to boil.
4. Add white wine and half of the parsley to the skillet, and let boil for 1 minute uncovered.
5. Add mussels to the skillet and cover for 5 minutes. Shake the skillet occasionally to allow even cooking.
6. Cook linguine in boiling salt water until al dante. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water.
7. Toss linguine into the skillet with cooked mussels and juices. Add butter and mix everything together. If the sauce becomes too thick, add cooking water until desired consistency is achieved.
8. Turn off the heat, and add the rest of the parsley. Serve immediately.
Hi Laney! First of all, thanks so much for following.
ReplyDeleteSecond of all, girl I think it's a great idea to roll your own pasta. I'd love to read your adventures on pasta making.
That would be awesome.
Third of all, your linguine and mussels look fabulous. The photos so capture the meal. I like your description of the preparation. You know it brings back fond memories of our trip to Italy Where we had fresh mussels on pasta. Mmmm. I wrote about it on my blog. It was called Cinque Terre. The place, not the dish. Thanks again. Hugs.
Hi Laney... Tq for ur kind comment on my blog, nice to meet u :)
ReplyDeleteThis pasta looks amazing - I loves the texture & color of the linguine blend with parsley, & the mussels looks so fresh & juicy!
I think we have the same things to "handle" - I'm learning to make a homemade pasta, so 1 borrow a rolling pin for pasta from my mother in law 2 weeks ago, so don't hasitate to share the adventure with us, photopragpe it & post it ;)
*warm regard*
Elies_Lie