I had never had a mussel until this weekend, and now, I cannot believe that I have been missing out on these morsels of oceanic heaven for 22 years! They are so good!This pasta dish kind of came together on the fly for a small gathering of friends, but it is easily one of the best dinners that I have ever had. It was super easy to put together and took only about 30 minutes to cook!
What you'll need: (serves 5-6 guests)
- 2 lbs of Mussels
- 1 lb of Hot Italian Sausage
- 1 lb Linguine
- 6-7 Plum Roma Tomatoes
- 5-6 Cloves of Garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- White Wine
- Garlic Powder
- Oregano
- Italian Seasoning
- Salt & Pepper
- Clean you mussels. Grit in a mussel or clam can turn a delicious meal around, so you want to clean you mollusks well! Place mussels in an ice bath for 30 minutes. Since the mussels are alive, they will filter the clean, cold water through their internal system, thus cleaning themselves.
- Remove beards from mussels and scrub thoroughly.
- Keep cleaned mussel in ice bath.
- Place a pot of salted water on stove to boil for pasta.
- In a deep skillet with a lid, or a pot, heat up some olive oil over medium heat.
- Add Italian sausages in their casings to pot and cook.
- Remove from pot and cut up into slices.
- Dice up the plum Roma tomatoes and place in pot with some olive oil and white wine
- Mince garlic cloves and add to pot.
- Add oregano, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.
- Return sliced sausage to pot and let simmer and reduce.
- Place pasta into water pot (should have come to a boil) and cook for approx. 10 minutes
- Mussels do not take very long to cook, about 4-5 minutes, so when the pasta only has 4 minutes or so left, add mussels to sauce with a splash of white wine.
- Strain pasta and add to sausage and mussels - mix together with tongs.
- Discard any unopened mussels.
- Serve family style in a large bowl - enjoy!
