Egg Fettuccine with Mussels and Saffron

Eating seafood with pasta always makes me think I'm on holiday, it's a fantastic combination particularly with this delicious egg fettuccine. It's really worth trading up for dried egg pasta... compared to Durum wheat pasta, dried egg pasta has a much richer flavour with a lovely silky texture.

Fresh mussels are amazing but for this dish I've used frozen mussels which are readily available. Mussells are tasty and work well  - combining them with saffron, wine, fish stock and cream creates a really wonderful dish that's incredibly easy.

Ingredients for Egg Fettuccine with Mussels and Saffron
Serves 3-4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 glass of white wine
200ml Somerset Foodie Fish Stock
A pinch of saffron
125ml double cream
400g frozen mussels (out of their shell and fully defrosted)
250g Spinosi dried egg fettuccine
Flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and black pepper

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil for the pasta.

2. In a wide frying pan, heat the olive oil and gently fry the garlic and chilli flakes for a couple of minutes, making sure it doesn't burn. Add in the white wine and bring up to the boil - simmer for a minute to reduce slightly.

3. Now add in the fish stock and the saffron, bring back to a simmer and reduce all the liquid by around a half.

4. Now add in the double cream and again bring back to a simmer. Now tip in the mussels and cook everything gently for a couple of minutes.

5. At this point, hopefully your pasta water is boiling, tip in the trays of fettuccine and cook on a high heat for 2 minutes (the pack says 1 minute, but in my opinion it needs 2!).

6. Once the pasta is still a little al dente, using tongs, pull the fettuccine out of the pan and in with the mussels. Give everything a good stir.

7. Keep the pan on a low heat to finish cooking the pasta - adding a little of the pasta water to loosen.

8. Divide the pasta between three to four plates (depending on how many/hungry you are) and garnish with some flat leaf parsley, a twist of black pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy! Foodies, don't forget to tag us @somerset.foodie when you make this at home, and leave a review for this recipe if you enjoyed making it at home Ben