Mussels & Pecorino pasta

Pasta con cozze, pecorino e limone

Some Italian will might call this a sacrilege, mixing grated cheese over a seafood pasta, but they do not know that mussels and pecorino is actually a very traditional pairing in more than 1 region in south of Italy, and in fact it works beautifully as both strong flavoured, they can really take up each other.

I added lemon zest and fresh basil for a touch of aromatic freshness.

Serves: 4 people // Preparation Time: 45 minutes // Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

500 g of Spaghetti

120 g of grated hard pecorino cheese (pecorino Romano works)

500 g of fresh mussels

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

50 ml of dry white wine

1 lemon

1 sprig of basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Rinse the mussels well and remove any “fuzzy slime” that may be clinging to the shell. Discard any open mussels. Once the mussels are well rinsed in cold water, heat one large pan and add a drizzle extra virgin olive oil and the crushed garlic coves. Fry for 2 minutes than add the mussel and pour in the wine along with a ladle of water. Let it cook with a lid on for about 5 minutes on high heat until all mussels are open. Turn off the heat immediately after to avoid overcooking the shellfish.

Drain the mussels from the cooking juice left in the pan and discard the garlic. Keep the juice of course and filter it through a fine sieve with a cloth to remove any residue of sand. For a touch of finesse, remove the meat from the mussel shell and keep them aside ready. Keep a handful of mussels on the shells to use as garnish if you want.

Place the mussels juice in a pan and heat it gently. Drop the pasta in NON-salted boiling water (mussels and pecorino are salty) and cook halfway for about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss it into the pan with the mussels’ juice. Let pasta simmer with the liquid for another 5/7 minutes while mixing. As the liquid will reduce it will get thicker and the pasta will absorb the flavour. Add pasta water as you go to finish to cook the pasta as if it was a risotto. When it comes down into a sauce consistency and the pasta is cooked al dente, add the mussels and let them reheat for a few seconds. Now, it is very important that you turn off your stove and remove the pan from the heat before this last step. Add a drizzle of oil to the spaghetti and let the pan cool for 30 seconds or the heat could split the cheese. Add the grated pecorino gradually on the pan as you mix and allow the remaining heat to melt it giving you a cheesy sauce. Add a splash of hot pasta water only if needed and taste and season accordingly.

Plate straight away in large pasta bowls and garnish with mussels on the shells, lemon zest, fresh basil leaves and a good scranch of black pepper.