Linguine & Mussels in White Wine Sauce

light white wine dances with succulent mussels over pasta

This spring recipe will brighten your day. And, with all the rain we've had in Cincy this week - I needed this! It's light, bright, and lemony, but gives comfort only pasta can provide. Pairing mussels with white wine is an age old tradition, thanks northern Italy. So, I'm not messing with it much, or at all really.

This recipe is so simple and quick to prepare. It's the perfect mid-week dinner. I honestly think cleaning the mussels takes the most time. Before preparing this recipe, be sure to review my previous post for three key things you need to know before cooking mussels. Once you have those down, let's get cooking! Here's how...

Ingredients - Serves 4
1 1/2 lbs. Mussels, cleaned & debearded
2 T Unsalted Butter

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
2 Shallots, minced
1 - 1 1/2 C Dry White Wine (suggest Chardonnay)
1 Box (13.5 oz) Whole Wheat Linguine
Kosher Salt
1 Lemon, zest & juice
3 T Parsley, chopped
Serve w/ Crusty Bread

Directions
Begin by cleaning and debearding the mussels. Allow them to drain as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Heat a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Add salt and the pasta just prior to adding the wine to the skillet (see below). Cook the pasta to al dente. Reserve 1 C of the cooking water before draining.

As the water comes to a boil, heat a large skillet over med-high. Add the butter, oil, garlic, and shallots. Saute for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant and softened. Carefully add in the white wine. Bring to a bubble, then add the mussels. Cover and cook 4-6 minutes or until the mussels open. Discard any that don't.

Add the pasta and some of the reserved cooking water to the skillet with the mussels. Toss to coat the pasta with the sauce. Add the zest and juice of the lemon, and more of the cooking water as needed, until a nice sauce forms.

Plate the pasta and mussels. Top with the parsley and serve with slices of the crusty bread (and the remainder of the wine). Mangia!