Paccheri with Mediterranean mussels and a stracchino cream sauce

A quick and easy summer recipe that we pair with a Salento Negroamaro Rosato Coré 2020 Coppi Casa Vinicola dal 1882.

The season for Mediterranean mussels runs from May through August and during this period they cost about 30% less than imported mussels. There are nine recognized types (including a DPO: Scardovari mussels) to choose from according to the characteristics of each and based on personal tastes.

Ingredients for 4 people:

320g Gragnano paccheri pasta, 400g peeled San Marzano tomato sauce, 400g Mediterranean mussels, 200g stracchino cheese, 1 tablespoon fresh cream, 2 garlic cloves, fresh basil leaves, salt and extra-virgin olive oil as needed.

Directions:

Clean and brush the mussels well and remove the beard from their shells.

Sauté a garlic clove in a broad pan with 2 tablespoons of EBOO and add in the tomato sauce. Cook for a few minutes.

Sauté the other garlic clove in a different pan with 2 Tablespoons of EVOO and add the cleaned mussels in order to open them. Remove from heat and shell the mussels, keeping the meat in some of the filtered water they expelled so they won’t dry out.

Boil the paccheri in abundant salted water.

Cut the stracchino into pieces and put them in a mixing glass together with the cream and blend until it becomes a soft, creamy sauce.

Drain the pasta and cook them in the pan with the sauce adding in some of the water the mussels were cooked in. Add in the mussels at the last moment.

Serve the paccheri on 4 flat plates on which a few spoonfuls of stracchino cream sauce have been spread out. Garnish with a few mussels and fresh basil leaves

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Salento Negroamaro Rosato Coré 2020 Coppi Casa Vinicola dal 1882

Intense and bright coral pink color. Elegant ripe fruit aromas (cherry, strawberry and raspberry) with notes of wild rose, which we also find in its fresh and harmonic taste. Full and well balanced to the palate.

Production area: the vineyards are located in Brindisi province, in Salento (Apulia). Soil type: clayey and sandy.

Grape variety: Negroamaro 100%, training system espalier and yield per hectare about 7-8 tons (1 kg yield per vine).

Grape harvest: hand picking in the second half of September.

Vinification: soft pressing of the grapes, temperature-controlled fermentation with selected yeasts. Bottle ageing about three months.

Alcohol content: 12% vol.

Serving temperature: 12°C.

Suggested food pairing: fried zucchini with tomato sauce, crostini with dried tomato pâté, risotto with asparagus and shrimps, lentil soup.

Cellaring: to drink when young.

Curiosity: the name of this rosé celebrates the Marquise Luisa Casati Stampa, called Coré, one of Gabriele D’Annunzio’s favorite lovers.

Related Products