Spinach Fettuccini With Smoked Mussels And Basil Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain.
• Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes; do not let it brown. Add the tomatoes and cook just until heated through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the mussels, parsley, basil, salt and pepper.
• Place the linguine in a large bowl and toss with the mussel mixture and the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Divide among 4 plates and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Bring a kettle of water to a boil for the pasta.
• Heat a large, heavy skillet. Add the pine nuts and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted. Remove the nuts from the pan and reserve. Lower the heat.
• Melt the butter and lightly saute the garlic. Stir in the cream and cook until the cream has reduced somewhat and is slightly thickened. Stir in the basil and mussels. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
• Boil the fettuccine about two minutes. Drain.
• Add the fettuccine to the skillet. Heat, tossing with the sauce, then serve sprinkled with the pine nuts and basil leaves.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger, and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards -- the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the mussels. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Arrange the mussels, pointed ends up, in a single layer in a cast iron skillet and/or a heavy baking dish. Spoon the marinade left in the bowl over the mussels and place in the preheated oven. Bake for about 10 minutes, until most of the mussels have opened.
• Meanwhile, steam the spinach in a large pot above 1 inch of boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, arrange on a large round platter, and season with a little bit of coarse sea salt and pepper.
• Arrange the mussels that have opened on top of the spinach and return the pan to the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard any mussels that have not opened. Arrange all of the mussels on top of the spinach, pour the juices in the pan over the mussels and spinach, sprinkle on the parsley and serve over a bed of steamed spinach, with crusty bread.

Steps:

• Cook onion and garlic in butter in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add wine and mussels and cook, covered, over moderately high heat until mussels just open wide, 6 to 8 minutes. (Discard any mussels that have not opened after 8 minutes.) Transfer mussels with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl, then transfer cooking liquid to a blender along with cream, basil, and pepper and blend until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Season sauce with salt and pour over mussels.