Cooking for One Plus Three: Steamed Mussels with Whole Wheat Pasta

*Still moving old content from the old site. This was posted in October so if you didn’t get to read it then, now is your chance!*

Sometimes you have to cook for one. Whether your spouse is travelling or you’re a single parent, maybe your spouse is a picky eater like your kids. Whatever the reason, the food that I crave is rarely the same as what my kids want. They are decent eaters but so careful about what goes into their mouths. For this reason, I often use a method of feeding our family which I like to call deconstruction. I first figure out what I want to eat and then I take some or all of the elements and feed them to my children in the purest form possible, individually and untouched by seasoning and heavy flavoring. I always make them take a “try it” bite which they now know is nonnegotiable, after many years of convincing-yes it has taken years to get this one right but it was worth the work and trial and error-they never escape the table without at least a nibble.

Now onto my dish of the day: Steamed Mussels with Whole Wheat Pasta. I consider it to be one of the greatest, healthy-comfort foods. It actually gets people excited and begging for more bread so they can sop up the juice at the bottom of the bowl. If you have to choose between carbs, leave out the pasta and reach for the crusty bread. It’s a delicious marriage between texture and flavor. Another thing that I love about this dish is that mussels are on the sustainable, okay-to-eat list. For more information on that check out: http://www.fishonline.org/ They are also relatively inexpensive for those of you who care about cost. I think I paid $2 for the ones I used in this recipe-not bad. A sneaky little secret that I learned when I worked in New York City restaurants was just how much they marked them up. They have a pretty big margin. I often don’t get them in restaurants because I know that I can make them just as well, if not better and mine don’t cost much.

The only downsize to steamed mussels, and I mean ONLY, is there is no way that I could convince my kids to make a meal out of them. What do I do instead? I make extra pasta, chop up some carrots, peppers, cucumbers, or whatever I have on hand, and then I have my adult meal with them. I do put a mussel on each plate for the “try it” bite and recommend they chase it with milk if they need to. Overall, I would say the meal is a win-win because they also really dig the bread that I put on the table.

Make sure you scrub your mussels well, de-beard them and season the cooking liquid if needed. Fennel fronds are the leafy part at the end of a fennel plant. I had the fronds so I threw them in but if you don’t, just leave them out. Feel free to put in any herb you might like. Enjoy!

Steamed Mussels With Whole Wheat Pasta

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 small shallot

1 clove garlic

¼ pound whole wheat spaghetti

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of red pepper flakes

½ bay leaf

¼ cup white wine such as Pinot Grigio

¼ cup clam juice

Zest of ½ lemon

1 dozen mussels, scrubbed and beards remove

1 plum tomato, diced

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon fennel fronds

½ tablespoon butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Equipment:

Cutting board

Chef’s knife

Microplane Grater/Zester

Strainer

Large pot

Preparation:

1. Chop shallot. (Technique: Trim off non-root end. Make 1-3 cuts toward the root, holding the knife parallel to the cutting board. Make a few cuts toward the root again, this time cutting toward the cutting board with the tip of the blade pointing toward the root. Root should remain intact the whole time. Turn knife 180 degrees and cut toward the root until you can’t cut anymore.)

2. Chop garlic. (Technique: Trim off root end of garlic with a large chef’s knife. Place the flat part of the knife on the garlic and smash the knife with the heel of your hand. The skin will slide right off so you can chop.)

3. De-beard the mussels. (Technique: Pulling in a side-to-side motion, remove the fibrous material that hangs from one side of the mussels. It will not be visible in some.)

4. Cook pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water.

5. Meanwhile, heat the medium pot over medium heat. Add oil and cook red pepper flakes, shallots and garlic for about two minutes, stirring frequently.

6. Add wine, clam juice, bay leaf and lemon zest and increase heat to medium-high. Once it boils, add mussels and tomatoes, cover and cook until mussels steam open, 3-5 minutes.

7. Toss in parsley, fennel fronds and butter. Check seasoning (by this I mean get out a spoon and taste a little) and season with salt and pepper if needed.

8. Pour over pasta and serve with crusty bread.

Tagged: mussels, whole wheat pasta