Mussels puttanesca with linguine
Cook up a classic Italian tomato sauce and serve with pre-cooked shellfish for a quick but impressive midweek dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves (if using mussels in garlic, omit this extra garlic if you like), finely sliced
- large pinch dried red chilli flakes
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 70g/2½oz black olives, stones removed
- 2 tbsp capers
- 100ml/3½fl oz dry white wine (if not using mussels in wine)
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú linguine (or spaghetti/fettucine)
- 2 x 250g pouches vacuum-packed cooked mussels (in garlic or white wine is fine)
- few sprigs fresh parsley, stalks removed and leaves finely chopped
- salt
Method
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil for the pasta.
In another large pan, heat the oil over a medium-low heat then fry the onion with a pinch of salt, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 5 minutes, add the garlic (if using) and the dried red chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the tomatoes, anchovies, olives, capers and wine (if not using mussels in wine) to the pan of softened onion. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir regularly, encouraging the anchovies to melt into the sauce.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente (about 10 minutes).
6 minutes before the pasta is ready, open the pouches of mussels and pour the entire contents into the pan of tomato sauce. Raise the heat to high, cover the pan with a lid, and allow the mussels to heat through for 5–6 minutes.
Drain the pasta (reserving a little of the water) and add to the pan of tomato sauce. Toss everything together and add a slosh of the pasta water if it needs it. Divide between two bowls. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and serve.
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