This mussels and spaghetti with white wine is the best way to enjoy a less than 30 minute seafood dinner at home. This recipe uses half shell frozen black mussels which are cooked straight from the freezer with no thawing time.
Simmered in a tomato and white wine sauce and served with lemon juice, red pepper flakes or fresh black pepper and fresh parsley. There are a few things in the world that can beat travel and food.
You can book an expensive flight to see the world or you can let the world come to you. How you may ask? Through food, people, books and music. You can eat in any cuisine, in the comfort of your own home.
Looking for a great salmon recipe? Try my Easy Healthy Salmon Dinner Recipe (Oven Baked)
A simple no fuss Italian recipe with locally grown half shell black mussels and you get to taste the sea, literally! We love mussels, well, all seafood, because it's not only healthy, the recipes are always so quick, easy, delicious and super versatile.
The only responsibility you have, is to make sure that you are eating locally grown and/or sourced. This not only cuts your costs in half but you are supporting the job creation movement and supporting local business, which brings to our tables, the best of our ocean in the most mindful way possible.
Why We Love This Recipe
Versatile: You can cook the mussels with any type of pasta! We love it with spaghetti because somethings just work, spaghetti and mussels work, but as long as your pasta is al dente you are good to go. This recipe can also be made using fresh mussels (more on fresh mussels below this post). If you don't want to use pasta, we often make it without the pasta and then serve crusty bread for dunking into the sauce, delicious!
Quick: This mussels recipe is quick and easy, making it perfect for just about any day and occasion. You can get this together in no time on a busy weeknight, you could serve it on date night or any other celebration or Sunday lunch.
Few Ingredients: One pot for the pasta and one saucepan for the mussels and sauce. It's a clean, no oven, stove-top low heat meal. The ingredients include dry white wine and frozen or fresh seafood. A very short list of ingredients.
White Wine Mussels
Let's take a look at the Ingredient list:
Extra-virgin olive oil: Choose a good one, it makes all the difference. We use this cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil.
White wine: Use the one that you like, from sauvignon blanc to pinot grigio (which is what we used) or a Chardonnay.
Salt and pepper: For seasoning and balance. We use this seasoning mix in our kitchen.
Mussels: This recipes uses frozen sustainably grown half shell black mussels.
Spaghetti: You can use any pasta type. For this seafood pasta, we love using a regular size spaghetti. Regular being the No. 5 Barilla spaghetti but any spaghetti works.
Canned tomatoes: The quality of ingredients always plays a role in the overall taste, something to consider when buying.
Tomato paste: This helps bring the tomato and wine flavor profile up a notch!
Garlic: We love quite a bit of garlic with this mussels pasta recipe. Fee free to adjust.
Fresh parsley: Adds a pop of color and freshness to the dish. Grow you own, it's easy, organic and you always have it! See this post for my herbs.
Lemon: Perhaps leave it for serving, not everyone likes the taste with white wine mussels.
How To Make Mussels And Spaghetti
Step 1: Cook the pasta
Get a large pot of water on to boil. When it boils, add the salt followed by the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions or until al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.
Feel free to add a teaspoon of butter into the oil for a rich flavor.
3rd picture - is my small trusted food processor that cuts onions and veg, and crushes any tomatoes we need. Food processors do everything you don't want to do! Pour the wine into the bits of leftover tomato and toss it into the sauce!
Step 2: Make the tomato sauce
Meanwhile, on medium heat, get a large skillet or non-stick saucepan on and heat the olive oil. Cook the garlic for 1-2 minutes until a light golden brown but watch they don't burn. Add in the crushed tomatoes and pour a dash of wine into the now empty tomato container (as shown in image #3). Give it a swirl and pour that into the pan too. Mix.
Seasoning: Season with salt and pepper and add the chopped parsley. Give it all a mix.
Step 3: Cook the mussels
Add the mussels ensuring that they are all covered in the sauce.
Take the flavor profile of the tomato and white wine up a notch: In a small bowl, add about a tablespoon or 2 of the tomato paste, into a small bowl and add a little wine. Make a paste or 'thinnish' liquid and pour into the sauce. It will help he sauce gain flavor and thicken.
Add the tomato paste: By now you should have a bit more liquid in the pan (the mussels will release water). Increase the heat back to medium high. Move the mussels so you can create space to add the paste, then poor it in and gently fold the mussels over the sauce so it can distribute throughout the pan.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I'd like to receive tips & recipes from Anosmic Kitchen.
Step 4: Simmer & Thicken
Leave the mussels on a medium high simmer for the sauce to thicken and the mussels to cook. If your sauce is too thick, you can add a little regular cold water or reserved pasta water at a time.
Tip: Do not add a lot of water or any kind of liquid because you don't want the mussels to overcook while your wait for the liquid to evaporate! It's best to add a ¼ cup at a time. The mussels should be cooked through in a 10 to 15 minute simmer but again, it will depend on how much liquid you have and how thick you want the sauce. That is the timing used in this recipe.
Step 5: Add the Pasta
Now add the cooked spaghetti and combine.
Step 6: Serve & enjoy!
Chopped fresh parsley, fresh lemon zest and juice (if adding) and fresh black pepper.
Tips For Making This Recipe
- Don't be in hurry to add water or any liquid. It may look like a little sauce when you add all those mussels but give it a few minutes to start cooking the mussels. The liquid will increase so wait and when you do add, prefably use a ¼ cup at a time as it cooks the mussels.
- You can use reserved pasta water or you can use normal water which is what we tend to use in this recipe. Just a little kettle water as you need it.
- If you like a lot of sauce and want to scoop up the sauce when the mussels and spaghetti is finished, then you might want to add another can of tomatoes. We use one can and add water after the mussels have been added and after the mussels have released their own water. This way, you can judge more or less how much water to add. This idea is to keep the mussels the star of the dish 🙂
If you have any questions, do leave them below in the comments section for me, I will be happy to respond.
Equipment
Chopping board
Kitchen knife
Large pasta pot
Large skillet or saucepan for the mussels and sauce
Paper towel
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you eat pasta and mussels?
Hold the half shell mussel in your one hand, use the fork in the other hand to gently lift the mussel up (so it's not sticking to the shell) and then hold the mussel in your mouth and 'slurp' it up :)! True story. And don't forget to dunk some crusty bread into the sauce!
Is it hard to cook mussels?
Mussels are super simple to cook whether they are frozen or fresh. If they are fresh, you pop them into a pot and wait for roughly 6 to 7 minutes for them to steam. They will steam and all open once ready. You don't need to add anything to mussels when cooking them, you can eat them plain. However, you can also add anything you want creating your own flavor profile. The reason you don't need to add water to mussels when cooking is because mussels have their own liquid in which they will very successfully steam themselves!
In this recipe, your sauce will be more once the mussels start cooking, they release their own water or broth but that's the taste of the sea that you get in the sauce!
How to tell if mussels are fresh?
Fresh mussels will be closed and not open. If there's one or two open, it's okay but not the majority. If you press the mussel closed it should stay closed until cooked when they open.
Absolute Favorite Pasta Recipes
- Easy Creamy Bacon Tomato Pasta (Zio Michele)
- Pesto Pasta and Chicken Cold Salad
- Creamy Bacon Pasta
- Pasta e Fagioli (Italian Pasta & Beans)
- Easy Lasagna Rigatoni Pasta Bake Recipe With Meat
Follow on social media
Sign up to our newsletter and follow alon Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for our latest recipes! Tag all your fabulous creations #anosmickitchen so we can all enjoy with you.
Visit Our Shop to browse quality extra virgin olive oils and spices.
Star Rating
If you make this recipe, please leave me a star rating⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Till next time, when we make another dreamy pasta recipe :)!
Mussels And Spaghetti With White Wine
Ingredients
- 500 Spaghetti, or pasta of your choice
- salt for cooking the spaghetti
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced, if the cloves are big use 2 to 3
- 400 grams canned tomato, 1 regular size can
- salt and pepper
- 2 tbsps fresh parsley, chopped and divided
- 800 grams half shell mussels
- 1 cup dry white wine, divided or as needed
- 2 tbsps tomato paste
To serve
- fresh lemon
- fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta: Get a large pot of water on to boil. When it boils, add the salt followed by the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions or until al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.500 Spaghetti, or pasta of your choice, salt for cooking the spaghetti
- In a small bowl, add the tomato paste and 2 to 3 tablespoons of white wine. Make a paste or slightly thinner liquid is fine. Don't overthink it, just mix the two and set the bowl aside.2 tbsps tomato paste
- Make the tomato sauce: Meanwhile, on medium heat, get a large skillet or non-stick saucepan on and heat the olive oil. Cook the garlic for 1-2 minutes until a light golden brown but watch they don't burn. Add in the crushed tomatoes and pour a dash of wine into the now empty tomato container. Give it a swirl and pour that into the pan too. Mix.2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil, 4 garlic cloves, sliced, if the cloves are big use 2 to 3, 400 grams canned tomato, 1 regular size can, 1 cup dry white wine, divided or as needed
- Seasoning: Season with salt and pepper and add the chopped parsley. Give it all a mix.salt and pepper, 2 tbsps fresh parsley, chopped and divided
- Cook the mussels: Add the mussels ensuring that they are all covered in the sauce.800 grams half shell mussels
- Take the flavor profile of the tomato and white wine up a notch: Now add the tomato paste and white wine combination from earlier into the sauce to help it gain flavor and thicken. This is how you do it: Add the tomato paste: By now you should have a bit more liquid in the pan (the mussels will release water). Increase the heat back to medium high. Move the mussels so you can create space to add the paste, then pour it in and gently fold the mussels over the sauce so it can distribute throughout the pan.2 tbsps tomato paste
- Simmer & Thicken: Leave the mussels on a medium high simmer for the sauce to thicken and the mussels to cook. If your sauce is too thick, you can add a little cold water or reserved pasta water at a time.Tip: Do not add a lot of water or any kind of liquid because you don't want the mussels to overcook or the sauce to be too thin. It's best to add just a dash, (like a ¼ cup) and the mussels should be cooked through in a 12 to 15 minute simmer.
- Add the Pasta: Now add the cooked spaghetti and combine.
- Serve: Chopped fresh parsley, fresh lemon zest and juice (if adding) and fresh black pepper.fresh lemon, fresh black pepper
Notes
Nutrition
Comments
No Comments