Mussel pasta
🕘Prep:10 mins
Cook:15 mins
🍳Easy
🍽Serves 2
The slight
spice of mild curry powder enhances rather than overpowers the mussels in this
pasta dish – great budget treat for two
Ingredients
140g spaghetti or bucatini
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp mild curry powder
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
500g fresh mussels cleaned and checked, see tip, below
left
100ml dry white wine mixed with 50ml/2fl oz water
4 tbsp double cream
good handful coriander (or parsley), roughly chopped
Method
STEP 1
Boil the pasta in salted water, following pack
instructions. Meanwhile, heat a large, wide, lidded pan. Melt the butter and
add the onion. Cover and cook on a medium heat for about 7 mins until soft and
turning golden here and there. Add the curry power and garlic, and cook for 1
min more.
STEP 2
Turn up the heat and add the mussels to the pan. Pour
in the wine (it should steam dramatically), then cover with a tight-fitting
lid. Cook over high heat for 5 mins, shaking the pan every now and again, untll
the mussels are wide open. Discard any that remain closed, then lift the
mussels from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Drain the pasta when
it’s ready.
STEP 3
Stir the
cream into the mussel cooking liquor, then boil hard for 30 secs or so until
the sauce is the consistency of single cream. If it gets too thick, add a
splash of water. Taste and check the seasoning; I like this with lots of black
pepper, which gives heat, instead of using chilli. Return the mussels to the
pan, add the coriander and the pasta, and toss well. Serve in large shallow
bowls, with a bowl for discarded shells
By Jane Hornby
