PEI mussels in white wine garlic butter with linguini

linguini, 2 oz. (dry) per serving 2 tbsp. butter 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 dozen small to medium mussels (0.55 lbs.) 1 large tomato, chopped handful of fresh parsley, minced crushed red pepper flakes (to taste) 3 oz. white wine salt pepper fresh basil, chiffonade

Prepare linguini according package directions.

Clean and de-beard mussels. I used Prince Edward Island (PEI) mussels, and a dozen was about 0.55 pound. They happened to be on sale at my supermarket for $ 1.99 per pound, so this is a deal, indeed.

Heat butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the parsley and cook for a minute longer. Add the crushed red pepper flakes. Add the white wine, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Add the mussels. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove the mussels from the pan.

Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. (When I originally wrote the recipe I wrote it adding the tomatoes before adding the mussels, but I forgot to add them when I cooked the recipe. And I think it might actually work better to add them at the end as I did here.)

Add the basil and the cooked and drained pasta to the wine/butter sauce to coat thoroughly. (You'll also note that the pictures don't include the basil because I forgot to add it, as well.)

Add the pasta and some of the broth to a serving bowl. I used a plate here, which was probably not the best choice, either. Add the mussels on top.

Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 1 as a meal by itself or 2 as a small meal with other things. Could easily add 18 to 24 mussels and increase the amount of pasta to serve 2 or 3.

Not one of my better days of cooking, but it still turned out to be quite delicious.

The tomatoes, parsley, and garlic were from my CSA .