1-2 red chillies (or to taste), deseeded and finely chopped
2tbsp dried wild oregano buds (from bunched dried oregano), scrunched into fine strands
150ml dry white wine
450g fresh tagliarini (also works well with dried linguine, spaghetti or bucatini)
juice ½ lemon
2 heaped tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Method
Discard any mussels with broken shells, or any that don’t close when you give them a sharp tap.
Pour 200ml extra virgin olive oil into a small pan and add the garlic, chillies and crumbled oregano. Place over a very low heat to ‘confit’ the garlic and chilli until very soft but not caramelised. Allow to cool, then pour off half the oil into a jar – save it to drizzle on pizzas or use to fry eggs.
Put a large pan (big enough to steam the mussels) that has a tight-fitting lid over a highheat. After a minute, add the remaining 30ml oil to create a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil, followed by the musselsand wine. Put the lid on and give the pan a firm shake to distribute the heat. Leave the mussels to steam for 3-5 minutes until the shells open; discard any that remain closed.
Tip the mussels and juices into a large tray to cool. When cool enough to handle, pick the mussels out of their shells. Strain the mussel liquid through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside. Finely chop the mussels and add to the garlic, chilli and oregano oil, stirring to combine.
Bring 4-5 litres water to the boil and add a fistful of salt. Loosen the pasta bundles through your fingers so they won’t stick together as they cook, then drop into the boiling water and cook for around 1–1ó minutes.
At the same time, put the mussel, garlic and chilli mix, lemon juice, chopped parsley and approx. 150ml of the mussel stock into a pan large enough to easily hold the cooked pasta as well. Set over a low heat to heat gently.
Drain the pasta as soon as it’s ready, keeping two mugfuls of the cooking water. Transfer thepasta to the mussel pan and stir vigorously over a medium heat for 30 seconds–1 minute until the liquid has reduced and the sauce is evenly coating the pasta. If it’s too dry, add small splashes of hot mussel stock (or pasta water); you don’t want it too soupy, but you do want a small amount of shiny, viscous sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Check the seasoning. Serve on warmed plates with a halo of sauce around the pasta.
Recipes and photographs taken from ‘Padella: Iconic Pasta at Home’ by Tim Siadatan, photography by Sam A Harris (Bloomsbury Publishing, £25)
