I’m on a slight mussel kick at the moment. I can’t stop thinking about Eulogy’s beer mussels, Bona Cucina’s mussels in white wine, and most recently, a mussels in red sauce I had back in college. I found a recipe for Angel Hair Pasta with Mussels in a Red Pepper Sauce in an old Cooking Light I thought I’d try. I was hoping for a slightly spicy dish, so I altered some of the ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 bag mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Parmesan cheese
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to the directions on the box. Drain, and keep warm.
I wrote in my paella post how to clean and debeard mussels. It’s not terribly complicated, but it took me a while to be ok with debearding. Once the mussels are cleaned and debearded, you can begin cooking.
Add olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Chop your onion, garlic and bell peppers.
Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the bell pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
Remove the tomatoes from the can, reserving the liquid. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, liquid, and wine to the pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add mussels, increase the heat to medium and cover.
Cook for 7 minutes or until the shells begin to open. If any do not open, throw those out; do not eat them. Add the pasta to the same pot and mix to coat with the sauce.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
When I first tried this, I didn’t add any cheese. And there was a little something just missing. It was ok, but somewhat bland.
I’d add a bit more spice next time. Maybe more red pepper flakes, or even a few drops of hot sauce.
My boyfriend suggested adding Parmesan cheese, and it did really help the flavor of the dish, so be sure to add some at the end!
This could be a really stellar recipe with a few modifications. What would you add to change this from a three star recipe to a five star recipe?
Angel Hair Pasta with Mussels in a Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 bag mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to the directions on the box. Drain, and keep warm.
- Clean and debeard the mussels.
- Add olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Chop your onion, garlic and bell peppers.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the bell pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Remove the tomatoes from the can, reserving the liquid. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes, liquid, and wine to the pan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Add mussels, increase the heat to medium and cover.
- Cook for 7 minutes or until the shells begin to open. If any do not open, throw those out; do not eat them. Add the pasta to the same pot and mix to coat with the sauce.
- Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
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