Pasta with Rope Mussels and Smoked Chourico

 

Pasta with Rope Mussels and Chourico

Our dear family friend Toby Pett stop by the house with a special delivery Saturday afternoon

Toby’s visits always include a special treat of some kind! He usually comes bearing delicious, assorted cheeses,  bottles of fine wine and on occasion handy kitchen gadget of some sort.  Saturday’s visit was no excepting. When the door bell rang, and Coconut began barking, I peeked out the window and noticed his tan truck in the driveway. I greeted Toby at the front door where he stood grasping a white shopping bag, sporting his big happy smile. As I opened the door, Toby said “I brought you a few things today, and one of them  I’m hoping you don’t already own.”  Tobey knows how much I love our conversations about food, cooking and fine wines!  He and I have been know to chat hours about our passions for good food and delicious wines.  As Toby entered and walked over to my kitchen island, the excitement to learn what was in the bag grew…. he reached into the white bag and pulled out a container of marinated Colossal Green Olives, and said, ” I know you loves olives…so enjoy these how ever you please,  but have you ever cooked with this? …as he removed 4 large links of Smoked Chourico Caserio.  The smell of the smoked Chourico was mouth watering. He then pulled out a beautiful hammered copper dome shaped pan, one in which I had never seen before, and said, “do you have a  “Cataplana?”…and immediately began explaining the uniqueness of cooking with a Cataplana- a traditional Portuguese seafood pan.  The copper pan, cooks very much like a pressure cooker, and has been commonly used to cook seafood dishes in Portuguese kitchens for many generations.  After admiring, and thanking Toby for his generous and thoughtful gifts, he shared some of  his favorite dishes prepared  with seafood in this pan over the years.  During our conversation Toby encouraged me to create a new recipe for Sista’s Dish GMG post.  I used the Cataplana yesterday for the first time, and I’m loving it! It easy to use, cook awesome, and love that it makes one dish meals in minutes. I highly recommend purchasing a Cataplana.  This traditional Portuguese seafood pan get a two thumbs up in my kitchen this week!

Yesterday I whipped up this incredible pasta dish for a late luch my husband Barry and I  shared. This handy copper pan, cooked an amazing one dish meal in less then 20 minutes.  The flavor of the Smoked Chourico, combined with the Rope Mussels was outstanding! Pasta with Rope Mussels and Smoked Chourico is a quick and easy recipe that’s delicious enough to serve as an entrée or appetizer this summer!

Toby,  thank you for the treasures that inspired me to create this tasty fast and easy new recipe!

For Step-by-Step recipe details and photos click continue

Pasta with Rope Mussels and Smoked Chourico

Ingredients

1 lb. dry spaghetti pasta; cooked  al dente

3 lbs. fresh Rope Muscles

1/2 cup olive oil

5 large garlic cloves; finely minced

1/4 cup garlic scapes; roughly chopped

1 fresh bay leaf

1 cup red pepper; roughly chopped

1 cup yellow pepper; roughly chopped

1 medium sweet onion; sliced 1/8 inch thick

2 cups Chardonnay white wine

1 1/2 cups Chourico; cut into 1/4 inch thick sliced

1 he’s been kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon red crushed pepper flakes

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes in tomato juice

1/4 Cup fresh parsley; roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil; roughly chopped

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Step-by-Step

1 Heat olive oil in Cataplana over high heat; add garlic, garlic scapes, and bay leaf; sauté one minutes; add peppers onion; sauté 30 seconds

2 add white wine; add Chourico, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes; Mix well

3 add can of diced tomatoes and their juices, parsley and basil; mix well

4 add muscles; close Cataplana; fasten sides tightly; cook over high heat four minutes or until all muscle shells open

5 carefully open Cataplana (Note: be very careful of the escaping hot steam when opening Cataplana)

6 placed al dente cooked spaghetti in large serving bowl; transfer cooked mussels, Chourico, vegetables and pan juices over pasta; sprinkle top with grated Parmesan cheese; serve immediately with crusty bread

GMG FOB from Marco Island Florida, Jim Hughes and Rich & Glenna Jones,  just happened to be visiting brother Joey at the dock just in time to enjoy a sampling of this dish… yes it was a picnic on tail gate seaside!