Summer pasta with Strozzapreti, Arugula, Potatoes & Mussels

You hardly feel like cooking on hot summer days and yet fish and sellfish seem so perfect for light summer meals. They are also very easy and fast to prepare. I have a husband who just didn?t like fish but would eat shellfish. I solved this problem by taking him to a cooking class in Italy where just about all the dishes we prepared were fish. There were 4 chefs from a 5 star restaurant and just the two of us. I didn?t expect this, as it was a class at a hotel that we had gone to many times and advertised as a class for a maximum of 6 people. Seems we signed up for the first class of the season that started the beginning of June. Along the Adriatic, this is not high season and we were the only ones to register. The chefs wanted to do the class in any case, probably to test it out, how lucky was that!

I wondered how my husband was going to deal with eating the meals we prepared, as he really hated fish. My husband is a diabetic and it was important for him to change his diet that consisted mostly of meat. This class was the cure and he totally enjoyed every dish we prepared. He still eats meat, but today we have fish at least two or three times a week. The message is that if there is something you don’t like, it is worthwhile to learn how to prepare it. Many times you can find recipes that you never new existed and will satisfy your taste.

The following is an easy recipe that is great as it includes greens, shellfish and pasta, what is there not to like!

Strozzapreti con rucola, patate e cozze

Chef Franco, Vieste (Foggia), Italy

Recipe Summary

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients

1 lb. strozzapreti, cavatelli or pasta of your choice

1 bunch arugula (rucola in Italian)

1/4 lb. of potatoes

1 lb. of mussels

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 pepperoncino

Wash the mussels thoroughly and let them soak for about 1/2 hour in cold water, changing the water a few times. Remove the beard that is between the shells. Steam them in a small amount of boiling salted water. This will take 3-6 minutes; discard any that have not opened. Strain out all the liquid and reserve it for the sauce. Remove most of the mussels from their shells, keeping about 5 per person for garnish.

Peel and cut the potatoes into small squares, par boil them in salted water. Set them aside.

In a skillet, sauté the oil and onions until they become slightly translucent. Add the garlic and pepperoncino and cook a few more minutes. Add the reserved mussel liquid and boil it down to about half. Add the cubed potatoes.

In a large saucepan, cook the strozzapreti in salted boiling water. Three minutes before the strozzapreti is cooked add the arugula in with the strozzapreti and cook until the strozzapreti are al dente. Drain them and toss them into the skillet blending them until they are completely covered with the sauce.