CHRIS JACKSON'S LINGUINE ALLE COZZE

Leeds Guide 27th November 2009

Chris Jackson is a sous chef at Salvo’s Italian restaurant in Headingley. The restaurant has been going since 1976 and has been popular among both locals and diners traveling from further afield. The restaurant recently received national acclaim when they won Best Local Italian Restaurant in Gordon Ramsay’s ‘The F Word’. Here, Chris shares a recipe for what he calls a “simple but very delicious and quick dish,” adding, “the juice released by fresh mussels give an intense flavour to the pasta with just a few complimentary ingredients.”

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

Approx 1 kg fresh mussels

500g linguine

2 espresso cups of extra virgin olive oil

1 fresh chili, sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

METHOD Scrub and pull the beards from the mussels in plenty of cold water and throw away any open, broken or floating ones.

In a pan that’s big enough for the mussels to open in, gently sauté the garlic in half the oil until it’s soft, then add the chili and tomatoes, turn the heat up and, when the tomatoes start to sizzle, add the mussels and briskly cook with a lid on until the mussels open and release their juices.

Spoon the mussels out into another dish, reduce the juices by half and then add the parsley. Throw the mussels back into the pan along with the rest of the oil.

Cook the pasta al dente in boiling salt water, drain and dress with the mussels.

Serve immediately

You can take half or even all of the mussels out of the shells when they have steamed open. Put any juices back into the pan with the mussels.