Posted By Joel on May 25, 2009

My great grandmother came from Naples, Italy.  Her cooking tradition included pasta dishes combined with incredibly fresh seafood. In fact, I can remember her sitting on the sand bars at low tide, eating razor fish right from the shell. She had 13 children, knew how to raise a family, and if you misbehaved, she’d be happy to “let you have it” when you passed her in the hallway, where you couldn’t run away.  We didn’t misbehave much

Here is a recipe for linguine with mussels that is delicious simplicity:

Ingrediants:

3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 onion, finely minced
Fresh, ripe tomatoes, chopped
Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
Linguine
The freshest mussels you can find, preferably wild caught
A bit of cream or whole milk
1/2 cup white wine

Instructions:

Put on a large pot of water for the linguine.

IMPORTANT:  Wash the mussels and remove any beard.  Then, soak them in salty water for 10 minutes - they will get rid of any grit or sand.  Remove and hold aside.

Put the pasta into the boiling water to cook.

Meanwhile, in a heavy pot, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, about 3 or 4 minutes.  Use a low heat, don’t let the garlic brown.  Add the chopped tomatoes to the onion and garlic. Let is all simmer for about 3 minutes.  Add about 1/2 cup white wine, turn up the heat momentarily to cook off the alchohol, then set heat back to medium low.  Add the mussels into the pot the with onion, garlic, tomatoes, white wine, and cover.  Let it all cook for about 6 minutes.

Before you drain the linguine, reserve 1 cup of pasta water.  Now, drain the linguine.

Remove the cooked mussels from the pot and put them aside.  Add 1/2 of the pasta water to the “broth” of garlic, onion, white wine, mussel juices.  Add 3 tablespoons or so of cream or whole fat milk. Taste for salt, pepper.  Raise the heat to medium, add the pasta, add the chopped parsley, toss well, let it all thicken slightly.  If it seems a bit dry, add the rest of the pasta water.  Plate on a large serving plate, place the mussels on top of the finished pasta and serve immediately.

Wine pairing suggestions:  Falanghina, Fiano di Avellino, Fiano Sicilia, Grillo, Inzolia / Catarrato blend

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