The Kutai Guy Smoked Mussel Spaghetti

You’ll be truly heartened by our oodles of noodles! Cooked strings of spaghetti tossed through our local exceptional mussels with the addition of fennel, spinach and textural walnut flavoured crispy breadcrumbs. Of course you could very, very finely slice the fennel bulb and leave raw or you could be well organised and roast some fennel bulbs in the oven until beautifully caramelised in advance. If you love some spice use The Kutai Guy Smoked Mussels, sweet chilli flavour.

Serves 2

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed

200g dried spaghetti

extra virgin olive oil

2 handfuls young and tender spinach leaves

150g The Kutai Guy Smoked Mussels, natural flavour

lime or lemon wedges for serving

Pangrattato

1 thick slice sourdough bread, preferably one-day-old

1 small handful fresh local walnuts

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

…..

Make the pangrattato, make coarse breadcrumbs from the bread. Roughly chop the walnuts. Put the olive oil, breadcrumbs and walnuts in a small frying pan and toss well. Pan-fry over medium heat, stirring frequently, until well browned and crisp. Transfer to a plate.

Put a large pot of water on to boil.

Preferably using a mandolin, very finely slice the fennel bulb. Blanch in lightly salted water, then drain, refresh under cold water and dry well on kitchen paper.

Salt the boiling water and put in the spaghetti. Cook according to the packet instructions until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a chargrill or large frying pan. Lightly brush the blanched fennel slices with olive oil and put on the grill or in the pan and char on both sides.

Drain the spaghetti, holding back about ½ cup of the cooking water.

Put spaghetti in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add the spinach and toss well, then add the fennel slices and the smoked mussels. (Add a little of the spaghetti cooking water if needed to moisten, to your liking). Taste and add salt if needed.

Put the mussel spaghetti in two warmed bowls and top with some of the pangrattato (any leftover will store in an airtight container for about two days). Serve with lime or lemon wedges for squeezing over the mussels to lift the whole dish.

Outstanding Match

We reckon it tastes great accompanied by an Emerson’s Orange Roughy.

Tip

How to know if your spaghetti is cooked – cook in plenty of fast boiling water and add 1 teaspoon salt for every 100g of spaghetti. Test the spaghetti by tasting a string about one minute before the end of cooking time, so you can cook to your liking.