PASTA WITH BEANS AND MUSSELS is a classic dish from Campania’s land-and-sea cuisine, particularly Neapolitan, that can be offered at any time of the year and will always be a great success with our guests. It’s a simple, very inexpensive dish, as you’ll see, but it has a delicate nobility, like all traditional recipes.
The delight of this recipe comes from the meeting of the salty, sea flavor of the mussels and the creaminess and delicacy of the cannellini beans, all enhanced and made more indulgent by a generous soffritto and a good sprinkle of pepper and parsley. As for the pasta, opinions vary: some use tubettini, cavatelli or fusilli; I chose mixed pasta — the humblest but also the most traditional. One last note: the dish is neither a soup nor a dry pasta: keep the sauce soft and creamy and success is guaranteed!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Affordable
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 11 oz mixed pasta
- 2.2 lbs mussels
- 3 cups cannellini beans (canned) (or 14 oz (about 2 cups) dried beans)
- 1 clove garlic
- Half carrot
- Half onion
- 1 stalk celery
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
- 1 bunch parsley
- as needed water
Tools
- 2 Pans
- 1 Strainer
Steps
The preparation of PASTA WITH BEANS AND MUSSELS is really simple and suitable for everyone.
Wash the mussels under cold running water. Check for encrustations and remove them if necessary with a steel wool pad or a small knife.
Discard any mussels with an open or broken shell, remove the byssus (the group of filaments that protrudes) by pulling it with your fingers or a knife, and rinse the mussels again until the water runs clear.
Place a pan over the heat, add the mussels, cover with a lid and steam them until they open. As soon as they have all opened, remove the meat from the shells and set aside.
Strain their liquid through a sieve and keep it aside as well.
In a pan pour a drizzle of oil and gently sauté the garlic and a chopped mix of celery, carrot and onion. Lightly salt, add the beans drained of their preserving liquid, thin with two or three glasses of water, the mussel liquid, a pinch of coarse salt and bring to a boil.
I used pre-cooked canned beans, but you can use dried ones. Simply soak them in cold water the night before and cook them the next day, adding salt halfway through cooking.
Remove the garlic, add the pasta and cook it for 8 minutes, stirring from time to time and adding water if necessary.
Add the mussels and finish cooking. Taste to check seasoning, add a grind of black pepper and a generous sprinkle of parsley. The result should be a creamy pasta, not too brothy.
Plate the pasta with beans and mussels and enjoy it hot.
