Mussels with saffron pici.

PREPARATION: 30 MINUTES + 20 MINUTES RESTING COOKING: 20 MINUTES SERVES 4

I first made this dish the way I’d always cooked mussels – in a big pot allowing them to steam open – but after NZ mussel farmer John Young showed me his method, I haven’t cooked mussels in the old way since. 100ml extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 eschallots, finely chopped

3 tomatoes, seeds removed, diced

½ cup white wine

1 kg mussels, scrubbed clean, beards removed 2 tbsp finely shredded flat-leaf parsley

Lemon wedges, to serve

SAFFRON PICI

1 cup strong flour, plus extra for dusting

Pinch of salt

Pinch of saffron threads, soaked in 2 tsp water Warm water

To make the pici dough, combine the flour and salt in a bowl, and make a well in the centre. Add the saffron threads and their soaking water, then continue to gradually add a further 2–3 tablespoons of lukewarm water, mixing with a fork, just until it forms a shaggy dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Moisten the palms of your hands with a little water and, working quickly, roll the dough into one long noodle, about 5mm thick.

Lightly dust a board or tray with flour and curl the noodle into a spiral.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and eschallots, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring until softened and fragrant. Add the tomato and cook for a further 5 minutes, then stir in the wine and simmer until reduced by about half. Turn off the heat. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the mussels (John adds them in an old deep-fryer basket, which helps him pull the mussels out just as they open). You can cook the mussels in batches if you wish.

As soon as the mussels open (this will only take 2–3 minutes), scoop them out and add them to the pot with the tomato and garlic mixture.

Add the pici to the mussel water and cook for about 3 minutes, or until tender.

Mix the mussels and pici into the sauce over medium heat, with a touch of the mussel-cooking water, until a glossy sauce coats the pici.

Scatter with the parsley, season with freshly ground black pepper and serve with lemon wedges.

NOTE: The beauty of this cooking technique is that it allows you to control the mussels’ texture perfectly. Mussels contain two types of ‘juice’ – the briny seawater inside the shell (sometimes a little dirty or gritty), and the intramuscular liquid in the mussel (a kind of mussel stock). By pulling the mussels out as soon as they open, the mussels expel the seawater, but through their residual heat they will continue to slowly cook in their own intramuscular broth, retaining all their flavour. It’s a great way to cook mussels.