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Pasta with Mussels in a Spicy Tomato Sauce is a real treat. It comes together pretty quickly, it’s super elegant and tastes absolutely amazing. It’s a perfect meal for a weeknight dinner or date night in, with a glass of wine.
There’s something special about pasta and seafood. Shrimp Scampi Spaghetti is also to die for.
Pasta with Mussels – Easy Weeknight Dinner
This Pasta with Mussels is one of these dishes that comes together pretty quickly but still achieves an impressive effect. With only a handful of ingredients and less than an hour, you can really impress your loved ones for a busy weeknight dinner. Obviously, you can make it for guests or for a holiday, but my point here is that it’s easy and quick, but not short on flavor.
This sauce uses 2 types of tomatoes: cheery tomatoes and whole peeled yellow tomatoes. It achieves its fragrance from onions, garlic, fresh thyme, and chill pepper flakes. The mussels are cooked with white wine, onions, and garlic. And then the sauce incorporates the mussels and is finally tossed with a portion of incredible bucatini pasta. What more can you ask for? Maybe a glass of wine…
Ingredients and Substitutions
For this recipe I used:
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Whole Peeled Yellow Tomatoes
I used these two types of tomatoes because I like the texture and different colors. However, you can use any type of tomatoes. Whole peeled ones would be my choice, but you need to gently break them down (they can splash). Here I used two small cans of 14 oz of tomatoes. You can use one large can (28 oz) of whole peeled tomatoes. It will be equally delicious.
For this recipe I also used:
- Bucatini pasta, which is as long as spaghetti but a little thicker with a hole inside. I like that the texture of this pasta in this dish.
If you don’t have or don’t like bucatini, you can substitute it with spaghetti or linguini. It will also taste amazing.
How to Make Mussels, Pasta, and this Spicy Tomato Sauce
Although it is an easy and quick recipe, you will need to use 3 pots: one for the sauce, one for the mussels, and one for the pasta. Sorry about that to whoever will be doing the dishes, but this pasta is totally worth it! Please see the recipe card below for exact measurements, instructions, and nutritional information.
Preparing the Mussels:
- Before you start cooking your dish I’d suggest placing the mussels in a bowl with ice water and let them soak for about 20 minutes, before scrubbing them. This will let the sand from the mussels fall to the bottom of the bowl.
- Any of your live mussels that happen to be open and don’t close to the touch, should be discarded.
- Right before cooking the mussels, remove them from the water, scrub with a brush and remove any beards.
Making the Spicy Tomato Sauce:
- In a deep pan or a dutch oven, saute chopped onions with some olive oil, minced garlic, chili paper flakes, and fresh thyme, for about 5 minutes.
- Add Cherry Tomatoes and Yellow Whole Peeled Tomatoes with their juices to the pan.
- Add a teaspoon of salt and sugar and a little bit of freshly grounded pepper. Cover the pot and let cook for 20 minutes.
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- Onions, garlic, thyme, pepper flakes.
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- Tomatoes
Cooking the Mussels:
- In a dutch oven or heavy-duty pot with a cover, combine white wine, chopped onions, crushed garlic, and bring it to boil.
- Add mussels and cover it up. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until all the mussels have opened. After the first 2 minutes remove the mussels that opened up and place them in a bowl; cover the pot and let the mussels cook for couple more minutes. Any unopened mussels should be discarded.
- Once all the mussels are in a bowl, let them cool off slightly. Once they’re cool enough to handle, remove about 2/3 of the mussels from the shells and leave the rest in the shells.
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- Scrub your mussels
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- Cook the mussels
Cooking Pasta
Cook your Bucatini according to instructions. Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the rest once the pasta is cooked.
Assembling the Pasta with Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce
It’s best to use a big pot or big bowl to mix the dish together (the pot from cooking the pasta would work).
- Check tomato sauce for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed;
- Add the mussels which were removed from shells to the spicy tomato sauce, and gently fold them in;
- Add Bucatini to the pot or bowl, cover with sauce and gently mix together; if the sauce is too thick then add a little bit of your pasta water;
- Transfer the pasta dish to a serving plate or pan (I like using my cast-iron skillet for the rustic effect). Add your in-shell mussels on top and sprinkle with some chopped parsley for an outstanding looking dish, and serve.
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- Slightly cool off cooked mussels and remove 2/3 from shells. Add to tomato sauce.
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- Add pasta to the sauce and mix all. Then add remaining mussels.
How to Serve Pasta with Mussels
Italians usually eat pasta as “primo,” which is the first course. Followed by a “secondo,” which is the main course. Because of that, the pasta dish is usually small. In America, on the other hand, pasta dishes are often served as a main dish. And as such, it is usually a bigger portion.
I would serve this Pasta with Mussels as a main dish for two reasons: (1) it has protein, carbs, and veggies, which already constitutes a full meal; and (2) because it is so good, I wouldn’t be satisfied with just a small portion. But obviously, the choice is yours.
If you really want to, you can serve it with some crusty bread or simple green salad, on aside and a good glass of wine.
Other Delicious Pasta Recipes to Try
Pasta with Mussels in a Spicy Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Spicy Tomato Sauce
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1/2 Vidalia Onion medium size, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon Chili Pepper Flakes
- 1 can Yellow Peeled Tomatoes 14 oz
- 2 cans Organic Whole Cherry Tomatoes 14 oz each
- 1 teaspoon Salt or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Parsley chopped
Mussels
- 1/4 Vidalia Onion medium size or medium shallot, chopped
- 1 clove Garlic crushed
- 1/2 cup White Wine
- 2 lb Mussels scrubbed
Pasta
- 3/4 lb Bucatini Pasta
Instructions
Preparing the Mussels:
- Before you start cooking your dish I'd suggest placing the mussels in a bowl with ice water and let them soak for about 20 minutes, before scrubbing them. This will let the sand from the mussels fall to the bottom of the bowl.
- Any of your live mussels that happen to be open and don't close to the touch, should be discarded.
- Right before cooking the mussels, remove them from the water, scrub with a brush and remove any beards.
Making the Spicy Tomato Sauce:
- In a deep pan or a dutch oven, saute chopped onions with olive oil, minced garlic, chili paper flakes, and fresh thyme, for about 5 minutes.
- Add Whole Cherry Tomatoes and Yellow Peeled Tomatoes with their juices to the pan.
- Add a teaspoon of salt and sugar and a little bit of freshly grounded pepper. Cover the pot and let cook for 20- 25 minutes.
Cooking Pasta
- Cook your Bucatini according to instructions. *(see notes below on how to salt your pasta water).
- Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the rest once the pasta is cooked.
Cooking the Mussels:
- In a dutch oven or heavy-duty pot with a cover, combine white wine, chopped onions, crushed garlic, and bring it to boil.
- Add mussels and cover it up. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until all the mussels have opened.
- After the first 2 minutes remove the mussels that opened up and place them in a bowl; cover the pot and let the mussels cook for couple more minutes. Any unopened mussels should be discarded.
- Once all the mussels are in a bowl, let them cool off slightly. Once they're cool enough to handle, remove about 2/3 of the mussels from the shells and leave the rest in the shells.
Assembling the Pasta with Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce
- Check tomato sauce for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed;
- Add the mussels which were removed from shells to the spicy tomato sauce, and gently fold them in.
- Add Bucatini to the pot or bowl, cover with sauce and gently mix together; if the sauce is too thick then add a little bit of your pasta water;
- Transfer the pasta dish to a serving plate or pan (I like using my cast-iron skillet for the rustic effect).
- Add your in-shell mussels on top and sprinkle with some chopped parsley for an outstanding looking dish, and serve.
Notes
- 1 tablespoon of Table Salt, or
- 1,5 to 2 tablespoons of Kosher Salt
Nutrition
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This looks so good. I love all the flavours in that spicy tomato sauce.
Thank you! It’s delish!
This dinner was so easy and flavorful! A total hit with my whole family!
I’m so happy to hear this.
What a great combo: pasta with mussels in one dish! I’m always on the lookout for recipes with mussels. Your recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I hope you like it. 🙂
I enjoyed pasta with mussels once at a friend’s house but never have made it myself. Now I can! This looks easy enough for me to make on a weeknight but special enough to share with company. The best of both worlds!
I couldn’t agree more!
Love the kick to this recipe! Great flavors
Thank you.
Do you think squid in past would be an ok substitution to the pasta?
For sure!
Omg this was delicious! After the mussels were cooked, I strained the liquid they were cooked in through a sieve and added half of it to the tomato sauce. Incredible!!
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it!