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Noodles Seafood Lunch / Dinner Main Courses One Bowl Meals Pasta

Cheesy spaghetti with fresh mussels

Published: 03.09.2009 » Last updated: 05.11.2022

No butter. No olive oil. The pasta sauce is reduced mussel broth and white wine thickened with melted cheeses.

Cheesy Spaghetti with Fresh Mussels

Quick and easy dishes like this were my staple when my daughters were still in school, and my husband had not yet retired. I was by myself on weekdays and laboring over my lunch was, well… Let’s just say that easy always sounded better.

Of course, easy may be a relative term here. It’s a fast and easy recipe IF the mussels had already been prepped. For those who are able to buy fresh mussels that had already been cleaned and debearded, congratulations. It should be a breeze cooking this lovely pasta dish. Otherwise, you have to prep them yourself.

Debearding a mussel

Soak the mussels in water for an hour or two in the fridge. Then, rinse repeatedly, shaking the bowl vigorously, to force the mussels expel whatever silt or sand has been trapped in the folds of the flesh inside the shell. Then, pull off the beard. Having done all that, your mussels are ready to be cooked.

What wine is good for making the sauce? Dry white wine is the default for making sauces but I find that semi sweet wine is just as good although the flavor of the sauce will be a bit different. As to quality, any wine that you’d care to drink is good enough for cooking.

Full recipe below

Cheesy spaghetti with fresh mussels

Connie Veneracion
This cheesy spaghetti with fresh mussels makes a lovely lunch for one. But feel free to double or even quadruple the ingredients to share the love.
Cheesy Spaghetti with Fresh Mussels
Print
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 20 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Fusion
Servings 1 person

Ingredients
  

  • 50 grams spaghetti - or your preferred pasta shape
  • 7 to 8 mussels - soaked, rinsed and debearded
  • 1 generous splash white wine
  • 50 grams cheese - (I used Monterey Jack) cut into small pieces
  • 25 grams cream cheese - (I used herbed cream cheese) cut into small pieces
  • salt
  • pepper
  • parsley - to garnish

Instructions
 

  • Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain. Reserve one cup of the pasta water.
  • Reheat the reserved pasta water and bring to the boil.
  • Add the mussels to the boiling water. Pour in the white wine. Boil until the mussels open, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Scoop out the mussels and allow the liquid to continue boiling until reduced to half. You want a more concentrated mussel stock with the full bodied flavor of the wine so reduce, reduce, reduce.
  • Meanwhile, open the mussel shells and discard the empty halves.
  • To the reduced liquid in the pan, add the crumbled cheeses. Stir until melted.
  • Turn off the heat. Season lightly with salt and generously with pepper.
  • Add the cooked pasta and mussels. Toss to coat.
Print
Keyword Mussels, Pasta

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Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

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