spaghetti con caponata e cozze
spaghetti with caponata & mussels
FROM THE PASTA & MAGIC COOKBOOK 'OIL SAUCES', COMING LATER IN 2025.
If you're going to Italy this summer you may be confused by the use of both COZZE and MUSCOLI, meaning 'mussels,' on restaurant menus. Depending on where you live in Italy, you call mussels either 'cozze' or 'muscoli' - 'muscoli' is the older term dating to at least the 14th century and used across much of northern Italy and Tuscany. Many other regional and dialect names exist (mitili, pietole etc) but the most used, especially in Rome and southern regions, is COZZE.
Caponata is a quintessentially Sicilian dish of roasted or fried vegetables, normally served in its own right and not on pasta - but I think it seems a shame not to, so I've combined it with mussels as a pasta topping.
I've used supermarket boil-in-the-bag pre-prepared mussels for this dish - if you have access to fantastic fresh mussels and know how to cook them, use them!
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
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prepare the ingredients
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chop and cook the vegetables
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cook the mussels following packet instructions
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boil pasta
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combine sauce and pasta
spaghetti with caponata & mussels
FOR FOUR PEOPLE
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1kg (2.2lb) pre-prepared garlic mussels
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1 large handful capers
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1 large handful green olives
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1-2 handfuls of pinoli
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1 large aubergine
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1-2 medium courgettes
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1-2 medium onions
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1 green pepper
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1 red pepper
PASTA
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400g (14oz) dry spaghetti
MANTECATURA
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minimal
METHOD
Cut (or spiralise) all the vegetables finely and then simply fry all the ingredients (apart from the mussels, which you’ll cook following the packet instructions) in EVO until they’re nicely tender. Begin with the capers and olives, then add the peppers, courgettes and finally the aubergines. You can fry them all separately if you prefer and then combine everything together.
Gently toast some pine nuts and set them aside.
Boil the pasta, add it to the vegetables in a tossing pan. Toss to combine, together with a splash of pasta water. Add the mussels, toss to combine once again, the pine nuts, and serve with cayenne pepper and pecorino on the top.
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