Mussels and Cod Bucatini With Spicy Tomato Sauce
Updated Dec. 16, 2023
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 12 servings
- Salt
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2shallots, minced
- 10garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Black pepper
- Crushed red pepper
- 1½ cups dry white wine
- 2pounds mussels, cleaned (see Tip)
- 1(28-ounce) can tomato purée
- 1tablespoon Calabrian chile paste, plus more to taste
- 3pounds cod fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2pounds bucatini or other long pasta
- 4tablespoons salted butter
- 1cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
- 1lemon
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.
- Step 2
In a separate large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, shallots and garlic plus a few pinches of salt, black pepper and red pepper. Cook, stirring a few times, until translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Step 3
Add white wine, then cover and bring to a simmer. Add mussels and cover again. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until mussels have all opened. Place opened mussels into a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. If there are a few left unopened, cover the pot for a minute at a time until they all open. (Discard any that don’t open.)
- Step 4
Stir the tomato purée, chile paste and a few pinches of salt into the mussel broth, maintaining medium heat. Add the cod, gently stir to coat, cover and cook for 7 minutes, until the cod is opaque but still firm.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, drop the bucatini into the boiling water and cook until al dente according to the package’s directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta.
- Step 6
Add the bucatini, butter and parsley to the tomato sauce and stir. Add reserved pasta water, ¼ cup at a time, as needed until the sauce is glossy and clinging to the pasta. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over pasta and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 7
Transfer pasta to a serving bowl (or keep in the pot) and add the mussels and any accumulated liquid. Garnish with more chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Tip
- Soak mussels in cold water and scrub any dirt or debris off of their shells. Discard any mussels with open, cracked or chipped shells.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Leslie
Calabrian chili paste? Not at Kroger and have never seen.... any substitutes?
Vito
Use whole (San Marzano) tomatoes and EVOO instead of butter for a more robust and healthier dish.
Richard
Northern Italians use butter because of the influence of dairy in the north.
Kim
Trader Joe’s has good (but spicy) Calabrian chili paste.
Mortadella
There is no substitute for authentic. Calabrian chili paste is spicy hot but not habañero hot, with a one of a kind fruity taste. I use it on sandwiches. I like the idea of adding to meatballs. Whole Foods sells it or you can get it from Jeff Bezos.
Rick Bella
I'm sure you could substitute clams, which also would yield a lovely broth. If you're allergic to clams, too, then you could use shrimp. If you're also allergic to shrimp, you might have to skip this one.
Amy
I made this last night for Christmas Eve. It was amazing! I ordered Calabrian chili paste online, it shipped to my house next day. I'll definitely use it for lots of stuff - it's delicious! So, I cut the pasta and fish in half because there were only 4 people, but I left the sauce and aromatics the same because I wanted plenty of sopping sauce. I honestly don't know how 2 pounds of pasta would work, it would be A LOT. This was really delicious and my family loved it! Five stars.
Max Alexander, Rome, MasterChef Italia
You don’t need to track down Calabrian chili paste, just add hot dried chili flakes, or some chopped fresh small (hot) chili peppers, to taste.
Marianne
Would love to make this without the mussels (allergies). Any recommendations or substitutions?
Betsy
Delicious! Used a blend of sambel olek and harissa in place of the Calabrian chili paste.
Jimmy Mack
Trader Joe’s has a quite good small jar of Calabrian chili paste always on their shelves. Use it to drizzle on pizza, mix with ground beef and pork for meatballs, or anytime you want to add some heat to a dish.
Richard
Why not test for salt and add if necessary? A blanket prohibition of salt might not be necessary.
Richard
The shells are for presentation effect only. You can remove them, leaving the meat and the liquor.
Matt D
Not much depth of flavor, following the recipe as written. Lemon should be cut in half as the dish is already quite acidic. I would also cut back the pasta water significantly as it puts far too much liquid into an already thin sauce. Consider dropping tomato puree for peeled and seeded roma tomatoes which should allow the other flavors to come through
Freida
Made this without the cod. Used mild harissa instead of the Calabrian chile. And missed out the lemon at the end. Worked out great.
Freida
Made this using mild harissa and left out the lemon at the end. Delicious.
PastaC
Do different brands of puree have different viscosities? There wasn't really a step to thicken the sauce, so it was sort of like tomato juice. Not quite cioppino, not pasta sauce. Next time I might cook it down before adding the cod to poach. Otherwise great! I did have to use whole calibrian peppers in oil and blitz them myself.
Tabitha
I overcooked the cod, but the rest of the dish was a hit. Thank you again for sharing this recipe!
cathy
Try chipotles if you don’t have the Calabrian. Tasted great.
Lisa D.
A couple of thoughts here: 1) It was good, but to me it needed more seasoning than just garlic and the Calabrian chili paste. If I make it again I will add more seasoning. 2) Went strictly by the directions, however you absolutely need to have pasta that cooks in 7-8 minutes, or wait to add the cod. I used thicker imported pasta and by the time the pasta was done, the cod disintegrated.
Lenise
So lovely! Have made it twice now. First round, I used whole canned san marzano tomatoes which I lightly crushed by hand (I thought I had puree in the cabinet!). Second time I used the called-for tomato puree. I preferred the lighter/thinner sauce from the whole tomatoes! Two lbs of pasta was overkill for both sauces though. On my third try I would do 1 and just have ample sauce for sopping up bread.
Katherine
This was outstanding. Nixed the chili paste because we have a kid in the house. Sprinkled some chili flakes on the adult servings which worked fine. We used 1 lb of bucatini which yielded a saucy dish. We happily mopped up remaining sauce with toasted Italian bread. The sauce would not have stretched over 2 lbs of pasta. You could add clams, lobster, crab, or shrimp to this dish with great results. I was asked, “Can you make this again tomorrow?”
Christmas dinner details
Halved recipe Extra garlic 1c wine Added basil cause we had it Cayenne instead of crushed red pepper (being lazy) Chili paste made from sweet hot chilies from new seasons blended with garlic, olive oil and salt plus some mama lil’s spicy goat horn peppers … used all made maybe 2-3T, not very spicy…could have used more spice Family loved it
Christmas dinner details
Halved recipe Extra garlic 1 cup wine Added basil Chili paste made from sweet hot chilies from new seasons, garlic, olive oil and salt … plus a few mama lil’s spicy horn peppers … quarter batch of paste not very spicy, used all (probably 2-3T) spicier could have been better Cayenne instead of crushed red pepper (being lazy) Family loved
LaPoodella
I make a similar dish often. Because I cook for only 2 and I’m verging on elderly, I have made this a 20 minute meal by using Rao’s marinara sauce. I add some crushed red pepper, a clove or two of roasted garlic. I boil the water. When I add the pasta to the water, I add the seafood to the sauce. I made it Christmas Eve with thawed cod, scallops and shrimp. It’s best to take the shrimp out of the shells. Use the thawed water in the sauce for more seafood flavor.
Betsy
Delicious! Used a blend of sambel olek and harissa in place of the Calabrian chili paste.
SuzVT
Welp, had some misadventures. Here in rural VT, it was frozen mussels (surprisingly good) and frozen cod (kinda thin). Calabrian chile paste was a non-starter, so I went with someone’s idea to use chili crunch, which, weirdly, I was able to find. Also grabbed cilantro instead of parsley, which was a big oops. Halved the recipe but forgot to halve all ingredients. Know what? It still came out great. Especially after my husband’s gluhwein! Will get ingredients right next time.
Max Alexander, Rome, MasterChef Italia
You don’t need to track down Calabrian chili paste, just add hot dried chili flakes, or some chopped fresh small (hot) chili peppers, to taste.
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