Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The pinched pasta of Piedmont, each tiny parcel sealed with thumb and forefinger, filled with braised meat that has surrendered to hours of slow cooking. Butter or broth. Nothing more.
Culinary Explorer
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Vermicelli con le Cozze
Created by
Neapolitan mussels steamed with white wine and garlic, their liquor tossed with vermicelli until the pasta glistens. Four ingredients. Nothing hidden. Everything earned.
Main Dishes
Italian, Neapolitan
Weeknight
Date Night
25 min
Active Time
20 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 servings
The fishermen of Naples did not read cookbooks. They cooked what they caught with what they had: olive oil, garlic, wine, parsley. The mussels provided everything else. Their liquor, briny and sweet, became the sauce. This is cucina povera at its most eloquent, poor cooking that makes expensive preparations seem foolish.
There is no cream here. No butter. No tomato. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in. The mussel liquor must not compete with anything. It must be allowed to speak, and when mussels are truly fresh, pulled from the waters of the Bay of Naples or anywhere the sea is clean and cold, they have much to say.
Americans often drown mussels in garlic. This is a mistake that reveals a fundamental misunderstanding. The garlic here is presence, not protagonist. You slice it thin, let it gild in the oil, and that is enough. More would overwhelm the delicate sweetness of the shellfish. Restraint is not timidity. It is confidence.
Vermicelli con le cozze belongs to the tradition of Neapolitan fishermen who sold their finest catch at market and kept the rest for supper. Mussels, abundant in the Bay of Naples, were considered humble fare until the 19th century, when Neapolitan street vendors began serving them over pasta to workers in the port. The dish rose from dockside to trattoria without ever losing its essential simplicity.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh mussels
Quantity
2 pounds
vermicelli or spaghetti
Quantity
1 pound
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/2 cup
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
sliced thin
dry white wine
Quantity
1/2 cup
red pepper flakes
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1/3 cup
chopped
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh mussels | 2 pounds |
| vermicelli or spaghetti | 1 pound |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1/2 cup |
| garlic clovessliced thin | 4 |
| dry white wine | 1/2 cup |
| red pepper flakes | 1/4 teaspoon |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1/3 cup |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Large deep pan or pot with tight-fitting lid
- •Large pot for pasta
- •Stiff brush for scrubbing mussels
Instructions
- 1
Clean the mussels
Scrub the mussels under cold running water. Pull off any beards, the fibrous threads protruding from the shells. Discard any mussels that are cracked, broken, or refuse to close when tapped firmly against the counter. An open mussel that will not close is dead. Do not cook dead shellfish.
Fresh mussels should smell of the sea, clean and briny. Any strong or unpleasant odor means they are not fresh. Walk away. - 2
Start the pasta water
Bring a large pot of water to a vigorous boil. Salt it generously. The water should taste of the sea. This is your only opportunity to season the pasta itself.
- 3
Infuse the oil with garlic
In a large, deep pan or pot with a lid, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook, stirring, until it turns pale gold at the edges. This takes two minutes. Watch it constantly. The moment before you think it might brown, stop. The garlic should perfume the oil, not dominate it.
The unbalanced use of garlic is the single greatest cause of failure in would-be Italian cooking. Here the garlic whispers. It does not shout. - 4
Steam the mussels
Add the red pepper flakes and stir for ten seconds. Add the white wine and let it bubble for thirty seconds. Add the mussels all at once and cover the pan immediately. Shake the pan occasionally. The mussels will open in three to five minutes. Remove the lid and take the pan off the heat the moment most shells have opened. Overcooking makes mussels rubbery.
- 5
Cook the vermicelli
While the mussels steam, drop the vermicelli into the boiling water. Cook it one minute less than the package suggests. You want it slightly underdone because it will finish cooking in the pan with the mussels. Reserve one cup of pasta water before draining.
- 6
Combine and finish
Return the pan with mussels to medium heat. Add the drained pasta directly to the mussels and their liquor. Toss vigorously for one to two minutes, adding splashes of pasta water as needed to create a sauce that clings. The starch from the pasta water binds with the olive oil and mussel liquor to form a glossy coating. Add most of the parsley and toss again. Taste for salt.
- 7
Serve immediately
Divide among warm bowls, distributing the mussels evenly. Scatter the remaining parsley over each portion. Drizzle with a thread of fresh olive oil if you wish. Serve at once. Once the pasta is sauced, invite your guests and family to put off talking and start eating. Do not, under any circumstances, offer cheese.
Cheese on seafood pasta is an abomination. The Neapolitans who created this dish would be horrified. Trust them. They know their mussels.
Chef Tips
- •Buy mussels the day you cook them. They are alive when you purchase them and should stay that way until the moment they hit the hot pan. Store them in a bowl covered with a damp towel in the refrigerator, never submerged in water, never sealed in plastic.
- •Vermicelli is traditional in Naples, but spaghetti or linguine work nearly as well. The pasta must be thin enough to tangle with the mussels and absorb their liquor.
- •Some Neapolitan cooks add a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved, to the pan with the mussels. This is acceptable. It is not required. The dish is complete without them.
- •Any mussels that remain closed after cooking should be discarded. They were dead before cooking began.
Advance Preparation
- •Mussels can be cleaned and debearded up to four hours ahead. Store them covered with a damp towel in the refrigerator.
- •This dish cannot be made in advance. It must be served the moment it is finished. The mussels toughen, the pasta absorbs the liquid, the magic disappears.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 320g)
Calories
725 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
17 mg
Sodium
520 mg
Total Carbohydrates
89 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
22 g
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