Mussel Soup with Cranberry Beans, Celery, and Basil

Name: Mussel Soup with Cranberry Beans, Celery, and Basil (Zuppa di Cozze con Fagioli Borlotti)
Yield: For 4 to 6 Persons
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 1 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes with their juice; 1½ pounds cranberry beans, fresh in their pods, or ⅔ cup dried, soaked overnight; 3 pounds live mussels; ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil; ⅓ cup very finely chopped onion; 1 loosely packed cup chopped celery leaves; 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic; Salt; Black pepper ground fresh; 12 large basil leaves, cut into very narrow strips; chopped fresh or dried chili pepper, to taste

Zuppa di Cozze con Fagioli Borlotti

Preparation info

For
4 to 6
Persons

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Marcella Cucina

By Marcella Hazan

Published 1997

About

There is a restaurant in Italy that seems never to have a free table, and it is not in one of the celebrated cities, but in Olbia, a shabby port town in northeastern Sardinia, on the ground floor of a modest hotel. It is Rita D’Enza’s Gallura. How to describe the flavor of Rita’s food? Intense, yet subtle; penetrating, yet gentle; surprising, yet comforting; sprightly, aromatic, surging from deeper sources of savor than anyone else se