The pasta and beans with mussels is a typical recipe of Neapolitan cuisine and is a tasty variation of the classic pasta and beans.
The combination of legumes and seafood, which might seem somewhat unusual, is particularly successful in this preparation.
A fundamental role in this recipe is certainly played by the type of pasta, which for me is almost always mixed pasta (but you can range from cavatelli to gnocchetti to tubettoni), which must be cooked strictly using the mussels’ cooking water.
Garlic, oil, chili, parsley, and a few cherry tomatoes do the rest.
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then… let’s COOK and EAT!!
See also
- Difficulty: Easy
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs mussels
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 fresh chili
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste parsley
- 12.3 oz canned cannellini beans
- 10.6 oz mixed pasta
- to taste salt
- a few cherry tomatoes (fresh)
Tools
- 1 Pot
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pan
- 1 Skimmer
- 1 Ladle
Steps
To prepare the pasta and beans with mussels, first, focus on thoroughly cleaning the mollusks.
Place the mussels in a basin and rinse them under running water, then check each one and remove the byssus, or the beard that generally protrudes from the shell.
Still under running water, and with the help of a steel sponge (or the back of a knife), clean the shells of each mussel until they are smooth and free of incrustations.Let the mussels open by cooking them for 4-5 minutes in a covered pan.
Once opened, using a slotted spoon, remove the mussels from the pan, shell them, and collect them in a bowl while using a fine-mesh strainer to filter the water they released during cooking and set it aside.
At this point, in the same pan, sauté a clove of garlic in a base of oil, along with the chili and parsley stems.
When the garlic starts to sizzle, remove it and add the precooked beans.
Let them simmer for a few minutes, adding fresh cherry tomatoes cut in half, then add the filtered mussel water and bring to a boil.
Pour the pasta into the pan and cook it, adding a pinch of salt and hot water if necessary.
At the end of cooking, add the shelled mussels, the chopped fresh parsley, and another drizzle of raw oil.
Let everything rest for a couple of minutes, then plate and serve the pasta and beans with mussels while still hot 😉.
