Pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes

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Pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes
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it de fr es br
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Prep time: 30 min
  • Cook time: 18 min
  • Serving: 4

PRESENTATION

Pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes is this really amazing blend of Southern Italian and Ligurian flavors. And you know what? In places like Campania and Sicily, people really love pairing potatoes with mussels. And it's a combo you’ll often find in many traditional Italian pasta dishes. This dish adds a cool northern twist with the famous Ligurian pesto alla genovese. But hey, this isn’t your usual pesto. It’s mixed with creamy ricotta for a silky, lighter feel that goes with the briny taste of the mussels so, so perfectly. Potatoes? They bring it all together by soaking up the aromatic sauce, making the dish incredibly comforting. Seriously good.

Playing around with different versions is part of the fun. Pretty much. In Sicily, they might use small local potatoes that become tender and almost melt into the sauce, while in Liguria, basil is always super, super fresh and incredibly fragrant. The seafood from Southern Italy adds a sweet and slightly salty edge, especially when the mussels are really fresh—seriously, fresh is key. It’s a fantastic example of how Mediterranean pasta recipes utilize seasonal ingredients to their fullest. And fans of Italian seafood pasta will discover something new to love with this fusion, as the creamy pesto and potatoes add a richness not found in simpler mussels and potatoes recipes.

Whether you stick with the classic or try some Southern Italian twists, this dish always gives you that mix of moist texture and big, herby taste. So here's the deal: it’s a wonderful way to dive into authentic Italian cooking and see how different regions put their own spin on the same simple, tasty ingredients. So, why not give it a try and enjoy a true taste of Italy's coastal regions? You’re gonna love it!

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INGREDIENTS

Whole wheat Pennette Rigate pasta 11.25 oz (320 g)
Mussels 2.2 lbs (1 kg)
Potatoes 1.3 lbs (600 g)
Extra virgin olive oil 1 spoonful
for the pesto
Basil 3 cups (60 g)
Extra virgin olive oil 6 ½ tbsp (100 g)
Cow's milk ricotta cheese 1 oz (30 g)
Pine nuts 1 oz (30 g)
Fine salt ½ tsp (3 g)
for garnish
Basil to taste
Preparation

How to prepare Pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes

To prepare the pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes, start with the pesto: place the basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil 1, salt, and ricotta 2 in a bowl.

Add the pine nuts 4 and blend with an immersion blender 5 until you get a smooth mixture, then set aside. Take care of the mussels: rinse them under cold running water, remove the shell encrustations with a stiff brush or a steel wool pad, then pull off the byssus (the filament protruding from the side of the shell). Rinse them well and discard the broken or already open ones 6.

Heat some oil in a pan and add the mussels 7, then cover with a lid 8 and cook for about 5 minutes, until they have opened 9.

Drain the mussels and save the cooking liquid by filtering it with a colander 10, then shell them 11. Move on to the potatoes: peel them 12.

First, slice them 13 and then cut them into cubes about 0.2 inches 14. In the meantime, bring plenty of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta 15.

When there are 5 minutes left in the cooking time, add the potatoes 16. Drain everything together directly into a pan 17, then add the filtered mussel water and finish cooking the pasta 18.

Turn off the heat, add the pesto 19 and mussels 20, then mix well. Serve your pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes, garnishing the dishes with a few fresh basil leaves 21!

Storage

We recommend consuming the pasta with pesto, mussels, and potatoes immediately.

Tip

If you want to further enrich the dish's flavor, you can add some grated untreated lemon zest just before serving: it will give a fresh and fragrant note that pairs perfectly with the mussels and pesto.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.
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