Shellfish Sauce for Spaghetti or Linguine

Name: Shellfish Sauce for Spaghetti or Linguine
Yield: Serves 6 as an entrée
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: ¼-½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes; 1.5 kg small black mussels; 3 tablespoons finely shredded flat-leaf parsley; 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped and with any green shoots removed; 2-3 tablespoons dry white wine or dry vermouth; 1 bay leaf; 480 g dried spaghetti or linguine; 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 4-5 Roma tomatoes, peeled and deseeded, then cut into 1cm dice; 1 clove garlic, unpeeled but smashed with the flat of a knife; a few sprigs of thyme and parsley; 24 small prawns, freshly steamed and shelled but with tails intact or 150-180 g cooked crabmeat

Preparation info

Serves
6
as an entrée

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

French

By Damien Pignolet

Published 2005

About

The juices extracted from the mussels used in this sauce provide so much flavour that little else is needed other than garlic, parsley and some diced tomatoes. This and the following recipe offer two options, one with oil and the other using cream.

Ingredients

1.5 kg small black mussels
1 clove garlic, unpeeled but smashed with the flat of a knife
a few

Europe
Oceania
Australia
Italy
France
Starter
Fish course
Pescatarian
Pasta
Mediterranean
Provence

Method

Scrub and debeard the mussels, rinse in plenty of cold water then drain. Select a wide, shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid and put a single layer of mussels in the pan, along with the garlic, herbs and wine or vermouth. Cover and place over high heat. When you see the first sign of steam coming from the pan [about a minute or two], remove the lid and, using tongs, tran