Pasta With Mussels, Tomatoes and Fried Capers
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:3 to 4 servings
- Salt, as needed
- 8ounces calamarata, rigatoni or other short pasta
- 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2tablespoons drained capers, patted dry
- 3garlic cloves, 1 minced, 2 thinly sliced
- ⅓cup panko bread crumbs
- Large pinch of red-pepper flakes
- 2cups diced ripe, fresh tomatoes (2 medium tomatoes)
- Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
- ½cup dry white wine
- 3large sprigs fresh oregano or marjoram
- 2pounds mussels, rinsed and debearded
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
- ¼cup torn fresh basil or mint
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
616 calories; 23 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 36 grams protein; 948 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Bring a medium pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Drain.
- Step 2
As pasta cooks, prepare the bread crumbs: In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add capers and minced garlic, and let sizzle for 30 seconds. Add bread crumbs, and fry until both crumbs and capers are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Scrape the crumbs and capers onto a plate, and season to taste with salt.
- Step 3
Add remaining tablespoon oil to pot and let it get hot. Add sliced garlic and red-pepper flakes, and let sizzle until garlic is golden at the edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes have softened and start to lose their shape, about 6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer tomato solids to a small bowl, add lemon juice to taste, and set aside.
- Step 4
Add wine and oregano to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add mussels, cover and cook over medium heat, shaking the pot occasionally, until mussels have opened and are cooked through, about 4 to 7 minutes. Transfer mussels with a slotted spoon to a large bowl, and let cool slightly. Discard any unopened mussels.
- Step 5
Simmer the mussels liquid until reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes. Discard oregano sprigs.
- Step 6
When mussels are still hot (but not too hot to handle), pull meat from shells and add to the pot with reduced mussel broth (discard shells). Add pasta, tomatoes and butter, and toss well. Taste and add more lemon juice and salt if needed.
- Step 7
Transfer mixture to a shallow serving bowl and toss with herbs. Top with bread crumb-caper mixture and serve.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Jean
Here's a trick for cleaning wild mussels that will also improve farmed mussels. Put very cold (even iced) water in a large bowl. Salt to the taste of the sea. Add three tablespoons of flour. Add mussels and refrigerate for four hours or more, until ready to cook. The mussels open to feed on the flour, largely debeard in the bowl, clean themselves and get a bit plumper.
Toby
Any reason this would not work fine for clams?
Susan
Everything I've read about mussels is that they will die if stored in a small amount of water for any length of time because they will deplete the oxygen in the water. They need to breathe. So I wouldn't follow the advice to keep them in flour water for "4 hours or more". I've seen this recommended for 20-30 minutes, but I'd be very careful not to overdo it. Wild mussels may be improved by a purge, but, as I understand it, farmed mussels have already been purged.
jeff miller
An additional benefit of cooking and eating mussels is that mussels are one of the other sources of animal protein where eating them actually helps the environment. Mussels filter and clean the oceans of nitrogen and other chemicals where they are cultivated and require no added food inputs other than the natural organisms in the ocean.
Nancy
Make the sauce first then cook the pasta!!!
David Estroff
I made this without significant alterations- ran short of white wine so added a bit of dry sherry -DELICIOUS! Local Puget Sound mussels, our back yard tomatoes, garlic and oregano and basil added to the enjoyment. 5 Stars from us.
Clancy
A few adjustments: Used orecchiette for the pasta. Made with 1.5 lbs of mussels and 1 lb of Manila clams. Left about 1/4 of both the mussels and clams in their shells which made for a nicer presentation. Salted the diced tomatoes and drained in a colander, reserving the tomato water and added that to the sauce in step 5.
Marguerite
I had everything but mussels, but I had a pound of frozen bay scallops that I defrosted and used instead. Cooked them for only a minute or two. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious. That crunchy topping was a hit. I think I’ll use the leftovers on a sautéed hush filet.
sara
Really incredible. The bread crumb and mint topping takes it to the next level, giving a nice complexity to the already beautiful taste of the mussel and tomato sauce. One of my all time favorite NYT recipes
Helen
This is the best mussel recipe that I’ve tried from the NYT!
myraf
I used prepared frozen mussels, added a chopped jalapeño to the crumbs and garlic. Used on can roasted diced tomatoes. Mixed in about a packed cup of fresh sorrel at the end, thinking of the lemony taste. 8 oz of whole wheat penne was enough.
Sally
I'm doing a tinned fish cooking challenge with friends, so I used some tinned smoked mussels from Patagonia Provisions instead of fresh. Cooked the tomatoes and garlic in some wine, to get the flavor. All came out really well.
Carol
A lot of work, and kind of good, but I think I prefer the simplicity of steamed mussels with garlic and wine, add in pasta, or not.
Y
If using frozen half shelf mussel, make sure let the alcohol evaporated first.
chef Deb
Delicious!
Condiment queen
Underwhelming for the work involved.
Randy
Excellent! I took the weeknight shortcut of using canned tomatoes, which brought the total time to just 45 minutes. Because there are only two of us, I used one pound of mussels for two hearty servings.
David
Mussels gives this dish amazing depth when combined with the wine. I used fresh vine ripe tomatoes, fresh oregano and garlic. This dish rivals chef prepared in a specialty bistro. The kinda of entre you would expect to pay $50 for and pair with a Chardonay and endive salad.
Amanda
Use less oil for frying breadcrumbs or put on paper towel. Double recipe if using for other seafood applications. Delicious.
judy
Don’t overthink this. Get a bag of farmed mussels. Great way to use tomatoes from your garden. Tastes amazing without much effort. Serve with a baguette to sop up every drop of the delicious juice.
Laura G.
Very good. Did not remove mussels from shell; just flung the mussels, in shells, on top of the pasta etc. at end, and then flung on the breadcrumb-caper mixture and served. The breadcrumb capter mixture is an end in itself! Also it's March in New England, so used good quality whole canned tomatoes, and they were fine.
Katherine
This was incredible. Probably the best recipe I’ve made from NYT cooking!
sara
Really incredible. The bread crumb and mint topping takes it to the next level, giving a nice complexity to the already beautiful taste of the mussel and tomato sauce. One of my all time favorite NYT recipes
Fran Augusta
Followed directions as written, but left the shells on the mussels when serving. Made pasta last as suggested by others. I threw a few shrimp in there because I had them, but they didn’t add anything and I wouldn’t do it again. I didn’t find this recipe time consuming because I did mise en place and that little bit of prep really simplified things. This one is a keeper.
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