👉 Read the recipe in Italian: click here
Ingredients
- 400 g paccheri pasta
- 1 kg mussels
- 300 g Abruzzo pear tomatoes
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- Chili pepper, to taste
Preparation
Clean the mussels: wash thoroughly, remove the beard, and scrape the shells. Place them in a pot over high heat until they open. Shell most of them, leaving a few intact for decoration. Strain the cooking liquid and set aside.
Make the sauce: in a large pan, heat the olive oil with the garlic cloves. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the mussels: incorporate the shelled mussels, the whole ones, and part of the filtered cooking liquid. Let the sauce reduce over high heat.
Cook the pasta: boil the paccheri in salted water and drain al dente.
Combine: transfer the paccheri into the pan with the sauce, tossing well to finish cooking. Add chopped parsley and chili pepper to taste.
Serve: plate the pasta and garnish with the mussels left in their shells.
Wine pairing
A chilled glass of Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo (around 9 °C) will enhance the fragrance of the sea and the sweetness of the Abruzzo pear tomato.
A touch of poetry
The paccheri rest on the plate like slow embraces, wrapped in the bright red of the tomato and the briny scent of Ortona’s mussels. Each bite is a meeting of sea and land, a memory of summer that never ends. A sprinkle of parsley lights up the green of hope, while a glass of Cerasuolo sparkles nearby, like a toast to love.
This is not just a dish to eat: it is one to live, to breathe, to remember.
Sotto il Cielo 