If you love pistachios as much as I do and you would even eat them with milk for breakfast, then you absolutely cannot miss this Sicilian-inspired recipe, full of flavor and with a refined result! It is a first course that evokes the beautiful Sicilian summer days, where the scent of fish lingers through the alleys of all the little seafaring villages! A mix of ingredients offered by my territory, starting from the capers of Pantelleria, to the Pachino cherry tomatoes, with their unique taste and highly sweet pulp, up to the pistachio of Bronte! With raw materials like these, describing the dish is almost superfluous! My mouth is watering already and yours?
More first course ideas:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients:
- 11 oz spaghetti
- 1.75 lbs mussels (with shell)
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1.4 oz pistachio flour
- 1 oz breadcrumbs
- 0.7 oz salted capers
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bunch chopped parsley
- 1 1/4 white wine
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (+ as needed)
- as needed salt
- as needed red pepper flakes
Preparation:
Wash the mussels under cold running water, scraping the shells to remove all residues and using a small knife to remove the byssus, that is, the beard that forms between the inside and outside of the shell (fig. 1).
Transfer them to a large pan with 1 cm of water, cover, and cook over low heat for 5′ (fig. 2).
After the cooking time, open and you will find all the mussels opened. Those that remain closed should be discarded (fig. 3).
Filter the cooking liquid and set aside (fig. 4).
Remove the mollusk shells, keeping a few aside for the final decoration (fig. 5).
In the same pan, brown the garlic with a drizzle of oil, add the mussels, and deglaze with white wine (fig. 6).
Remove the garlic, let it flavor for a few minutes, then lower the heat, add the desalted capers and parsley (fig. 7).
Dilute with the filtered mussel broth and also add the tomato paste and halved cherry tomatoes (fig. 8).
Let evaporate for a few minutes and turn off. Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan, combine the breadcrumbs, pistachio flour, and 2 tablespoons of oil and lightly toast (fig. 9).
Boil the pasta in salted boiling water, drain it al dente, and transfer it to the mussel sauce. Turn on the heat, let it flavor for another minute, adding some red pepper flakes.
Serve with a drizzle of oil, sprinkling with the pistachio breadcrumbs and the mussel shells.
And voilà… your spaghetti with mussels and pistachio breadcrumbs are ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appetit from FeFé’s kitchen!
