Pasta with Mussels in Garlic Sauce

Name: Pasta with Mussels in Garlic Sauce: Warm Salad Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Pasta (penne) 250 g; Water for cooking the pasta 2.5 l; Salt for cooking the pasta 18 g (7 g per 1 l of water); Mussels (frozen) 150 g; Water for cooking the mussels enough to cover the mussels; Garlic 2-3 cloves; Parsley 3-4 sprigs; Parmesan 50 g; Gherkins 5-6; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Ground black pepper to taste

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45 mins

In Mediterranean countries, Turkey in particular, the traditional appetizers called “meze” (Arabic مَزة, Greek μεζέ, Bulgarian meze, Turkish meze) take their name from the Persian مزه, meaning taste or snack.

In essence, it’s a large set of small dishes or bowls with all kinds of appetizers, literally filling the whole table. Such appetizers are traditionally served with strong spirits: ouzo, rakia, grappa. And in one form or another they exist almost everywhere.

I have always been drawn to sauces that are simple in composition but incredibly tasty, based on garlic and olive oil. It’s almost the perfect dressing for salads, main dishes and appetizers.

For example, the Italian pasta salad “alla checca” is made with just such a dressing. In the Caucasus there are often salads of ordinary seasonal vegetables dressed with oil and garlic. An excellent appetizer in every sense. After something spicy and an aperitif, you usually want both a glass of good wine and a lot of meat or mussel soup.

The Parmesan carbonara we love so much has become a bit tiresome, and so has the salad of mussels and cappelletti. Today I decided to make a warm salad: pasta with mussels, with garlic sauce added. Using simple, accessible ingredients. I described in detail how to prepare mussels properly in the article how to cook mussels.

Ingredients

2 servings

Pasta (penne) 250 g
Water for cooking the pasta 2.5 l
Salt for cooking the pasta 18 g (7 g per 1 l of water)
Mussels (frozen) 150 g
Water for cooking the mussels enough to cover the mussels
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Parsley 3-4 sprigs
Parmesan 50 g
Gherkins 5-6
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Ground black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Pasta

Pasta is a remarkable product. It cooks in just 10-15 minutes from the boil. And if you pour in water from a boiling kettle, the cooking time drops considerably.

Boil the pasta. It’s generally held that pasta should be cooked in a large amount of water: for 250 grams of dry pasta, 2.5 liters of water and 18 g of salt (7 g per 1 l of water) is enough. Bring the salted water to a boil over high heat, add the pasta and cook strictly for the time indicated on the package, stirring. If the pasta is good, and not some local composite of flour, in that time it will be “properly” done, that is, al dente.
Drain the cooked pasta in a colander and let the excess water run off. Let the pasta cool a little, at least until it stops steaming. Be sure to cover the pasta with a towel so it doesn’t dry out.

Mussels and dressing

Cut the gherkins. While the pasta cooks, cut the gherkins lengthwise into 4 pieces, then once more crosswise in half.
Grind the Parmesan with the parsley. Grate the Parmesan, take only the leaves of the parsley and chop them finely. Put the grated Parmesan and parsley in a blender and grind. You should get an almost dry substance that looks like a very fine grain.
Boil the mussels. Thaw the mussels, drop them into boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, no more, or the delicate mollusk will turn into something like a jelly candy. Drain in a colander.
Make the garlic dressing. Peel the garlic, chop it finely and mix with 2 tbsp of olive oil. I recommend adding a little pepper to the dressing, which gives the mussels in garlic sauce an extra note of flavor.

Serving

Toss the salad. In a deep bowl combine the cooked pasta, mussels and gherkins. The pieces are fairly large, so mix evenly. Pour the garlic sauce over the warm salad and toss once more.
Divide the pasta with mussels among plates and sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley.
Serve the pasta with mussels in garlic sauce as a main dish or an appetizer.

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Calories and macros

760 kcal

Serving ≈ 430 g

Protein35 g19% of kcal
Fat24 g29% of kcal
Carbs95 g52% of kcal

100 g177 kcalProtein 8.1 gFat 5.5 gCarbs 22.1 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.