CHEAP AND EASY PASTA ALLA COZZE
RECIPE BY THOMAS LINKINS
Take this as your sign to get yourself to the markets, breathe in the slimy, briny goodness of the seafood hall, and make love eyes with the boy selling mussels. I once made this dish for my very picky and patriotic Italian housemate in Leeds and he said it was better than his nonna’s. So please, go forth and impress Italian boys with this recipe.
Ingredients
Serves 4
800 grams mussels (or 200 grams per person)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 birdseye chillies, (deseed and slice lengthways in quarters or eighths)
1 handful parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup dry white wine
400 grams spaghetti or linguine
Method
Start by thoroughly cleaning your chosen mussels. Mussels come with beards—stringy gossamers around their mouths—which you’ll want to pinch away before cooking. Ignore the old myth of discarding mussels that are already opened, but do throw out the ones with broken shells.
Cook pasta to just before al dente.
While pasta is cooking, add the olive oil into a deep pot (with a lid), and place on low—medium heat. Add garlic and chilli, as well as a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until garlic begins to soften.
Add wine and cleaned mussels. Allow 2–3 minutes for them to start opening and releasing their briny juices. Throw in your almost al dente pasta to finish cooking in the mussels’ flavours, put the lid on the pot and give a stern swill.
Remove any mussels that haven’t opened, mix in parsley, and serve.
NOTES:
Serve with side of bread to mop up any remaining oceanic goodness, but please, for the love of nonna, do not serve with parmesan (or any cheese).
