Cavatelli with mussels is an Apulian seafood pasta that keeps things simple: a hollow, hand-shaped pasta, mussels opened in the pan, rocket, cherry tomatoes and chilli. Cavatelli are one of the oldest pasta shapes of southern Italy, older even than orecchiette, which probably grew out of them.
A seafood pasta from Puglia: cavatelli with mussels
A good fish-based first course, not elaborate but far from ordinary: cavatelli with mussels. Mussels are one of the most common ingredients in the seafood cooking of Puglia, and here they meet a pasta that was born to catch a sauce.
Cavatelli are older than orecchiette. The name comes from the Italian verb cavare, to hollow out, and describes the gesture that gives the pasta its hollow: a small piece of dough is dragged across the board with the fingers or with the tip of a knife. Cavatelli come from Molise, the small region north-west of Puglia, where they are documented as far back as the Middle Ages. From there they spread across the whole of southern Italy, Puglia included, where they remain a much-loved shape alongside orecchiette. The two are closer than they look: many scholars believe orecchiette are a direct descendant of cavatelli, a cavatello that is turned inside out with the thumb instead of being left hollow. Both belong to the family of strascinate, pastas “dragged” across the work surface with the fingers.
Ingredients (serves two)
- 200 g cavatelli
- 500 g mussels
- extra virgin olive oil
- rocket
- cherry tomatoes
- parsley
- chilli
- salt
- pepper
- garlic
Method
- Clean and wash the mussels carefully, pulling off the “beard”, the tuft of fibres that sticks out of the shell. Throw away at once any with a broken shell, and any open ones that do not close when you give them a sharp tap: they are no longer safe to eat.
- Put them in a pan with a drizzle of oil, a little water, chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and a clove of garlic, and let them open over a medium-high heat.
- When they are done, throw away any mussels that have not opened as well: it means they are not fit to eat.
- Cook the pasta and drain it al dente, still slightly firm to the bite.
- Toss the pasta in the pan with the mussels, adding pepper, rocket, chilli and the cherry tomatoes, washed and cut into small pieces.
- Let the flavours come together for a couple of minutes, then bring to the table.
A finishing touch. For a more elegant plate that is no harder to eat, you can take the mussels out of their shells, keeping just a couple in the shell as a garnish.
More pasta from the same tradition: cavatelli with rocket and, if mussels are what you are after, spaghetti with mussels. All the others are on the page of Apulian first courses.
