Ingredients:
- 1kg mussels, washed and scrubbed
- 400g fettuccini
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 30g softened butter
- 1 pinch of saffron (stamens)
- 10 leaves parsley
- 125ml pouring cream
- 2 large very ripe tomatoes, crushed and seeds removed
- 2 tbsp snipped parsley
- Salt and freshly milled pepper
Instructions:
In preparation for the fettuccini, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
Infuse the saffron for 5 minutes in a small amount of hot water.
In another large saucepan, add the olive oil, butter, chopped onions, parsley leaves, garlic, and stick of celery (finely chopped). Brown the onions, then tip in the mussels. Stir well as the mixture fries, then cover. Leave the mussels cooking for 5 minutes until all have opened. Put to one side, removing the mussels with a large slotted spoon and keeping the cooking liquid.
Keep back a few mussels to use as decoration, remove the rest from their shells.
In a large saucepan, incorporate the cooking liquid from the mussels, the tomatoes, snipped parsley and crème fraîche. Season with pepper before reducing with saffron and garlic.
Once the pasta is cooked al dente, tip it into a bowl. Mix in the shelled mussels. Pour over the sauce. Stir together and decorate with the mussels left in their shells.