Pappardelle with Smoked Mussels, Shrimp, Yellow Peppers and Black Olives
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 yellow peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, stemmed, and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
- 3 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
- ¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons chopped pitted black olives
- 24 medium shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled, deveined, and split lengthwise
- ½ pint smoked mussels
- 1 recipe Fresh Pasta, cut into pappardelle
Instructions:
Tuscans think of these wide noodles as standing up to the big-bodied flavors of wild mushrooms, duck, and rabbit. Seafood, typically lighter fare, is associated with linguine or spaghetti.
- Put a large pot of water on to boil.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and peppers and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, marjoram, and red pepper flakes, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, olives, and mussels and cook until the shrimp are just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Keep warm.
- Season the boiling water with salt, add the pappardelle, and stir so that the strands don’t stick together. Cover the pot if necessary to bring the water back to a boil. Cook for 1 minute, then stir again. Continue to check periodically to make sure the strands aren’t sticking together, and cook until the pasta is tender but still offers a little bit of resistance when you bite into it, about 3 minutes. Before draining the pasta, use a measuring cup to scoop out ¼ cup of the pasta water. Set it aside.
- Pour the pasta into a colander, then transfer the pasta to a large warm bowl. Pour the sauce over it and toss well. If the sauce is too thick to coat the pasta, add a little of the reserved pasta water to thin it, then toss again. Serve immediately.