Mussels w/ Linguine

Some of you may remember the January Va. Beach trip I took for my birthday.  Well, on this trip my friends took me to this great seafood buffet called Captain George's.  I will confess, I was not super excited.  Why?  Because I am not a seafood lover, but I willingly went along and thought "Hey, you never know, I may try something new I love."  And that is EXACTLY what happened!

My friend Melissa had been raving about mussels for a while, and she was DETERMINED that I was going to try them.  I did, and let me tell you, THEY WERE AMAZING!  Not fishy at all, and the flavor of the red sauce, white wine, garlic, and chili flake, OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD!  I knew when I got home I was going to have to try making them and I was amazed at how easy it is.  I can't wait to show you how I did it!

Let's get started!


Mussels w/ Linguine:
*Prep Time: 10 min.  *Cook Time:  8 min.  *Difficulty:  Easy  *Servings:  4-6

Ingredients:

•  3 lb. Frozen Black Mussels 
•  1  28 oz. Can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 6 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced 
• 1 Red Onion, finely diced
• 1 Lemon, Juiced
• 1 lb. Linguine
• 1 c. Pinot Grigio 
• 1 tbsp. Red Chili Flake 
• 4 tbsp. Butter
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 loaf of Crusty Bread
• Fresh Parsley 

      To begin you will want to place a pot of salted water over medium/high heat, and bring to a boil. 

While you are waiting for the water to come to a boil you can prep your onion and garlic, and place a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium/high heat.

To the hot dutch oven add the butter and olive oil and allow it to melt and get hot.

Then, add the onion and cook until it is soft and translucent.

Next add the garlic.
Cook until you smell it coming from the pan.

The pasta water should be at a boil now so add the pasta.

Now to the garlic and onion add the tomato sauce,

Salt,

Pepper,

And Chili flake.

Next, add the mussels to the pot.

Pour in the wine.

And I added a little lemon juice.
Cover the pot and cook for 8 minutes until all the mussels have opened.

Remove them from the pot and discard any that have not opened.

To the sauce add the pasta and toss.

Now return the mussels to the pot and top with a little parsley.
Oh man, look at the pot.  Is that not the sexiest pot of seafood you have ever seen!  I love to serve it with a nice loaf of crusty bread to soak up all of that luscious sauce.

Come on in for a closer look!
You can just SEE all of the flavor.  The tomato sauce, the onion, and ALL OF THAT GARLIC.  Oh man.  I can't wait to just dig in!

So if you are wanting to branch out into seafood, or maybe you are just wanting to make something that looks like a million buck, but doesn't cost as much (This entire pot was under 20 dollars), then get in the kitchen and make these Mussels w/ Linguine TONIGHT!  You will be so glad you did!

And as always...

Happy Reading, Happy Eating, and Happy Living,
~The Kitchen Wife~

Mussels w/ Linguine:
*Prep Time: 10 min.  *Cook Time:  8 min.  *Difficulty:  Easy  *Servings:  4-6

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ingredients:

•  3 lb. Frozen Black Mussels 
•  1 28 oz. can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 6-10 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced 
• 1 Red Onion, finely diced
• 1 Lemon, Juiced
• 1 lb. Linguine
• 1 c. Pinot Grigio 
• 1 tbsp. Red Chili Flake 
• 4 tbsp. Butter
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 loaf of Crusty Bread
• Fresh Parsley 

 Directions:

1.   .  To begin you are going to place a large pot of salted water (I recommend 1 tbsp. of salt) over a medium/high heat, and bring to a boil. 
2.      Add half of the box of linguine to the boiling water and cook according to the directions on box. (Approximately 8-10 minutes)
3.        Once you have started cooking the pasta, you can begin your mussels.  This will literally be done in minutes.  Place a large skillet over medium/high heat and add 2-3 tbsp. of oil. 
4.     Then the oil is hot, you can add the onion to the pan.  Cook 2-3 minutes until they are soft and translucent. 
5.     Now add the garlic.  Cook until you smell the garlic coming from the pan, 1 minutes. 
6.  6  Add the wine and lemon juice.  If you want you can use bottled lemon juice.  Let it simmer until it has reduced by half.  That means that there will be half the amount of liquid in the pan that you started with. 
7.        Add the chili flake and tomato sauce to the skillet.
8.        Bring to a simmer and taste for any seasoning.  When adding salt and pepper, add a little at a time, then taste again.  You can always add more.  You can’t take it out.
9.        Now add the FROZEN mussels to the pan.  Cover, and let cook for 8 minutes until they open. 
10.        After 8 minutes if any of the mussels have failed to open, throw them out. 
11.    .  To the mussels and sauce, add the cooked linguine and gently toss. 
12.    .  Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley.
13.       Serve and Enjoy!