Shellfish Spaghetti with Mussels and Prawns
This is the perfect weeknight dinner with the family. It’s easy, it’s quick and it mostly requires ingredients you would probably already have in your fridge and pantry (besides the fresh seafood). Honestly, I make this at least once a fortnight for the fam. This version of shellfish pasta has mussels, prawns, tomatoes (canned and sundried), anchovies and bacon. All coming together to make a beautiful tomato sauce to coat whatever pasta you choose. In this instance, I’m using spaghetti but you can use any type of pasta string that your family likes.
Why you will love this recipe
- It’s weeknight-friendly. The sauce develops plenty of flavour without simmering for hours. Once everything is chopped and the mussels are cleaned, it moves quickly.
- The mussels help make the sauce. As they steam, they release their salty, briny juices directly into the tomato sauce. We are keeping that flavour exactly where it belongs.
- It feels generous without being ridiculously expensive. Mussels are generally more affordable than prawns, so you can serve a proper platter of seafood pasta without filling the entire pan with expensive shellfish.
Ingredients
Mussels & Prawns
This is the star of the dish and what gives the sauce the taste of the sea. Everyone loves picking at the meat however what I love about mussels in pasta is the delicious liquid that it lets out into the pasta sauce. It really does serve dual purposes.
The prawns may seem like the supporting act in this dish however the meatiness to the prawns will not be ignored when you get one of these bad boys on your fork. Peel these prawns before cooking.
If you’re in the US, use large raw shrimp—the result is the same rich shrimp and mussel pasta, just with a different name on the seafood packet.
Tomatoes
I like to use both canned tomatoes and some sundried tomatoes. The canned tomatoes gives this dish the classic tomato sauce, and the sundried tomatoes gives the sauce an intense tomato-ey sweetness (I know that not a technical culinary term… but that’s the best way I can think of describing it!).
Bacon
Bacon makes everything nicer. Nuf’ said? But seriously, a bit of fried bacon gives this dish character. I wouldn’t skip it.
Anchovies
The secret ingredient (maybe not so secret anymore??) to really elevate any seafood dish. It’s salty, its fishy (in the best way possible) and just taste like great seafood. I keep a jar of this in the fridge to use in most of my seafood dishes. But be aware, anchovies are salty, so use caution when adding more salt.
Parsley
A dual purpose ingredient, I like to use the stalk when sautéing the the onions and garlic. Parsley stalks gives up an incredible smell. And use the leaves for garnishing to make things look a little bit fancy (and fancy delicious!).
Onion, garlic and red wine
Last and certainly not the least, no tomato sauce suitable for any pasta is complete is the staple ingredients; onion, garlic and red wine.
How to make this mussel pasta recipe with prawns
1. Start boiling your water for the pasta
This might sound early but this dish comes together really fast and you don’t want your seafood rich pasta sauce getting cold while waiting for the pasta to be done. So I like to put on the pot of water earl. Do not put in the pasta just yet. Just start heating the water early (with salt ofc).
2. Sauté onion, garlic and parsley stalks
Grab yourself a large and tall pan or pot (the mussel shells take up a lot of space). Heat some olive oil and add in the onions first, let it fry for 1 minute then add in the garlic and parsley stalks. Cook until they have all softened.
3. Add bacon, anchovies, sundried tomatoes and prawns
Add the bacon and anchovies. Fry until the bacon starts to colour and the anchovies break down into the oil. Stir in the finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and let them fry for about 30 seconds.
Add the prawns and sear them briefly on both sides. You will start to see some delicous looking fond develop at the bottom of the pan, this is liquid gold! Do not think you’ve burnt anything. The sugars from the sundried tomatoes and the prawns simply have left glorious flavour disguised as some brown stuff…
4. Add tomato and wine and scrape, scrape, scrape
Pour in the canned tomatoes, followed by the red wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan so all that browned flavour becomes part of the sauce, then simmer uncovered for 3–5 minutes.
5. Add mussels
At this point, put in your pasta into the water you have previously heated.
Back to the sauce, if your sauce is looking a bit dry, do not worry, the mussels are coming to save the sauce! Add in the cleaned and debearded mussels to the pan and cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. When the mussels have opened, take out any mussels that did not open and bin them. You will see your pasta sauce loosen up a bit from the mussels.
6. Add pasta and toss
If the tomato sauce still looks a bit thick, take some of the pasta water and loosen up the sauce a bit. Transfer the cooked pasta into the pan with the mussels and tomato sauce and toss, toss, toss! Ensuring every strand of spaghetti is coated with the deliciously rich seafood tomato sauce.
Taste before adding salt! The bacon, anchovies and mussels already bring their version of saltiness to the sauce. So make sure to taste the sauce before adding salt to avoid over-salting the pasta.
7. Serve on a big platter
Transfer everything onto a large platter. Place it in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.
How to turn it into a meal
Bring the pan straight to the table or transfer the spaghetti to a large platter. Put an empty bowl nearby for the mussel shells and let everyone serve themselves.
My garlic bread is the obvious companion because leaving that tomato sauce behind would be a waste. Add a simple green salad if you want something fresh alongside it, but I wouldn’t crowd the table with too many extras. The pasta already has plenty to say.
If you like the combination of shellfish and a rich tomato base, try my seafood stew as another dinner for the middle of the table. It has the same generous, help-yourself spirit in a different form.
Ingredients
- 350 g dried spaghetti
- 500 g fresh mussels cleaned and debearded
- 300 g raw prawns peels and deveined
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced
- 2-3 clove garlic finely diced
- 400 g canned tomatoes
- 100 g sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 rasher bacon finely diced
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 5-6 parsley stalks finely chopped
- 100 ml red wine
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the mussels. Rinse the mussels under cold running water, scrub the shells and remove their beards. Discard any with badly cracked shells. Tap any open mussels and discard them if they do not close.
- Start the pasta water. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil. Keep it ready while you prepare the sauce, but don’t add the spaghetti yet.
- Cook the aromatics. Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic and parsley stalks, then sauté for another 2–3 minutes or until softened.
- Build the base. Add the bacon and anchovies. Fry for 2–3 minutes, until the bacon begins to colour and the anchovies break down into the oil.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and prawns. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and fry for 30 seconds. Add the prawns and sear briefly on both sides until lightly browned and beginning to turn pink.
- Make the tomato sauce. Pour in the canned tomatoes and red wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the browned fond, then simmer uncovered for 3–5 minutes.
- Cook the spaghetti and mussels. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente. At the same time, add the mussels to the tomato sauce, cover the pan and reduce the heat to low-medium.
- Check the mussels. Start checking them after 5 minutes. Transfer the mussels to a bowl as they open so they don’t overcook. Allow up to approximately 10 minutes in total, then discard any mussels that remain firmly closed.
- Toss the pasta. Add the spaghetti and a small splash of pasta water. Toss everything gently over the heat until every strand is coated and the prawns are opaque and just cooked through. Add more pasta water if the sauce needs loosening.
- Taste and serve. Taste before adding salt—the bacon, anchovies and mussel juices already bring plenty of saltiness. Finish with black pepper and chopped parsley leaves, then transfer everything to a large platter and serve immediately.
