Simplicity itself: a spicy Calabrian spaghetti dish with smoked mussels, mushrooms, green peas and a pesto with the kick of red chillies. This is a great pescatarian summer meal; low on effort and big on flavour.
Calabrian peperoncino spaghetti with smoked mussels is one of my go-to summer dishes that's very easy to make. You can make your own spicy pesto alla calabrese using the recipe below. Or, you can use one of the many excellent readymade pestos available in Italian delis and supermarkets around the world. I advise one that's "red" and contains a decently tasty cheese.
Aside from the pesto, this recipe is for 2 diners. Scale up or down as needed. You know how.
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The pesto alla calabrese
I usually make this pesto in quantities greater than you'll need for this dish. It stores well, sealed in the fridge, for about two weeks. It's not great to use as a straightforward pesto if you freeze it, but it's a great addition, once defrosted, to other classic Italian sugos and sauces. However, that rarely happens in my kitchen because it seldom lies around long enough. It's the perfect "pizza cheat" ingredient. Simply smear it on a slice of bread, layer on the cheese of your choice and stick under the grill. You've got a gourmet melt in under ten minutes...
You can make this pesto up to two weeks before you cook this dish. It's really hard to clarify exactly what peperoncino you should use, because they vary so widely and what some people think of as "hot", others think of as the nursery slopes of the chilli world.
For example, I do rate this one at Lidl that occasionally appears in the UK but is more widely available in much of Europe. On the other hand, while I might be very jealous to not have yet tried this one my partner Luc has, apparently it's very hot. I know Carolina Reaper and I don't doubt it. Seemingly my sister-in-law Patricia—who does serious chilli machisma—found it outside her comfort zone. So, don't think of the quantities as fixed where the chilli is concerned. Experiment and find out what suits your preferences.
I like a fiery spiciness, so tend to got with...
250g ricotta cheese
3 or 4 tspns minced peperoncino, to taste (depending on heat)
Two tspns of smoked garlic puréed (or finely grated garlic)
3 tbspns extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, cubed
2 large red bell peppers, cubed
The juice of 1 lemon
5 or 6 spring onions, sliced
I large sweet red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 tspn dried oregano
3 tbspns concentrated tomato purée, dissolved in about 100ml boiling water
Approx. 120g Pecorino Romano cheese; finely grated (this is definitely my favourite, but it works well with other hard cheeses such as Grana Padano or parmesan)
salt and pepper to taste
The peperoncino spaghetti with smoked mussels
Enough peperoncino spaghetti, fresh or dried, to serve 2 people. Yes, you can use normal spaghetti, but I utterly swear by this one from Dalla Costa. I've tried numerous others peddling peperoncino. So far nothing comes close
3 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped or grated
1 cup fresh or frozen peas; steamed, but still slightly al dente
1 red onion, cubed
1 large sweet red chilli, deseeded and roughly sliced
2 x small (e.g. 85g) tins of wood smoked mussels
Approx. 200g brown closed cup mushrooms, fairly finely sliced
1 tbspn small capers
A clutch of fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
A dash of white wine (optional)
The salad
Obviously you can opt for any salad your prefer. Right now I'm very into extremely simple green salads and really loving this season's little gem lettuces. There's something a little old-fashioned about it, like something Vita Sackville-West might have eaten in the garden at Sissinghurst. Obviously it wouldn't have left her satisfied...
A little gem lettuce, washed, drained and torn
⅕ of a fresh cucumber, very thinly sliced
1 echalion shallot, finely sliced
a little balsamic vinegar
a little extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Method
The pesto alla calabrese
You can prepare this up to 2 weeks before. There's no reason why you can't make it just before cooking the dish, but it benefits from "resting" for 5 or 6 hours before serving.
Heat the olive oil in a fairly deep frying pan on a medium-to-high heat. When hot, add the smoked garlic and allow to sizzle for 2 or 3mins. Add the diced onion and stir in
When the onion has become translucent but not yet browned, add the sweet red pepper and the bell peppers. Cook, stirring regularly, reducing to a medium heat. Cook for at least 10 to 12mins—you want them to be fairly well cooked
Pour in the diluted tomato purée and lemon juice. Add the dried oregano and stir in the minced peperoncino. Increase the heat so that the liquid boils quite vigorously. Season with salt and pepper. Keep it at a fairly fierce boil for at least 10 to 12mins, stirring regularly. Essentially, you want the contents of the pan to reduce; until the mix has reduced substantially and has a fairly thick, almost sticky consistency and a deep, spicy flavour. If it has the right consistency, but has failed to develop a "mature" flavour, add a little more water and keep cooking off the liquid, stirring regularly, until it tastes strong and rich. Turn off the heat an allow to rest
Add the ricotta and sliced, raw spring onions to a mixing bowl. Add the grated Pecorino Romano (or preferred hard cheese). While your cooked ingredients are still warm enough to assist the cheese melting, spoon them into the mixing bowl, folding in gently. Then, using a handheld blender, blend it into a smooth pesto
Once fully cooled, store sealed in the fridge until 10mins before serving
The salad
Grab a quiet moment to assemble your salad once you've washed and dried the lettuce in between the other preparation
Hand-tear the washed, dried lettuce and add the cucumber and shallot in simple layers
Dress with black pepper and the olive oil and balsamico just before taking to table
The peperoncino spaghetti with smoked mussels
Open the little tins of wood smoked mussels. These are most commonly preserved in vegetable or olive oil (I've never come across them preserved in brine). Drain the oil from one of the tins—it's unlikely you'll need it from both—into a saucepan and heat on a medium-to-high heat. Yes, you want to capture that seafood taste
Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and allow to turn golden before adding the onion. Stir almost continuously as you sweat the onion, adding the sweet red chilli soon after
When these ingredients start to soften, add the white wine (if using). While it's cooking off, throw in the fresh coriander and mix in. Season with salt and pepper, add the capers and reduce to a low-to-medium heat once the wine has cooked off. Allow these ingredients to cook in their juices for 4 or 5mins, stirring very regularly
At the same time, steam your green peas in a microwave steamer or more traditional stove-top pot
When the ingredients of your pot are cooked, remove from the heat and only then add the smoked mussels—they're smoked, remember, so already cooked and you don't want to overcook them. Gently stir in. When your green peas are cooked, drain and add to the pot while still hot. Cover and allow to stand to one side
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. If using more traditional dried spaghetti, this will take between 10 to 12 minutes but only about 3 to 4 mins if using fresh. So, time the cooking of the pasta accordingly
As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain fully and return to the hot pot. Add your homemade or store-bought pesto—use as much as you find to your taste—and gently stir in. Re-cover the pot and allow the pesto to seep into the spaghetti for a few mins. Transfer the pot of the other ingredients to the hot plate/ring/ceramic section previously used to cook the pasta. You don't need to turn the heat back on. You simply want to "kickstart" the contents of the pot with a little heat. Be sure to stir to prevent sticking if that residual heat heat is higher than anticipated
Serve up your desired quantity of pesto-coated spaghetti onto plates. Spoon on the mix of other warm ingredients as desired
Take to table and serve with the salad
Accompaniments & Variations
This is by default a pescatarian dish. For vegetarian, simply leave out the wood smoked mussels and increase the quantity of mushrooms
Things are a little trickier if you want to make it vegan because of the cheeses in the pesto. However—and, yes, I've done this on more than one occasion because I feed lots of vegans—abandon the pesto in favour of a classic tomato sugo (here's the recipe) adding the minced peperoncino at step 5 of the recipe. No one's gonna feel hard done by: it's all good.
Pairings
If the coloured wine glasses weren't bad enough, Karel would probably have an apoplexy if he knew that I chilled the wine in the freezer because I got my timings wrong. That said, this really did work well with one of those "thin" pinot grigios that are barely there; ideal in hot weather and never going to overpower those subtle flavours of the smoked mussels.
What's more, while I almost delight in going on record saying that I'm "not a beer guy", I most frequently drink beer with this dish. Beer is great in hot weather. And, beer is great with chilli. I actually really love it with a Corona with that whole slice of lime thing going on—booze-free or classic Corona Extra. Mexican beer works well with chilli? Ya think...?
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