Pasta with mussels and Gorgonzola sauce

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 500 g mussels, freshly caught with shell
• 400 g tagliatelle (nests or loose)
• 3 liters of water
• 125 g sweet Gorgonzola
• 200 ml whipped cream
• some anchovy paste
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 2 garlic cloves, fresh
• 1 organic lemon(s)
• some capers to taste
• 1 bowl of cherry tomatoes
• 1 bowl of lamb’s lettuce
• 1 bowl of garden cress
• some olive oil
• some fleur de sel
• some black pepper, freshly ground
• 100 ml dry white wine
• possibly sauce thickener, lighter, alternatively cornstarch

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 35 minutes

Mediterranean mussels

Dice the onion and finely chop the garlic. Gently heat a little olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan, add the diced onion, and a little later, when they are translucent, the garlic, and sauté everything for another 1-2 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine, reduce slightly, and then slowly stir in the cream over low heat (do not boil!). Now add the Gorgonzola in small portions, stirring constantly. When the cheese has completely dissolved, add some capers and season with fleur de sel, a little ground pepper, and a little anchovy paste. Keep the sauce warm over low heat, stirring occasionally. Clean the mussels and discard any that have already opened (discard them; do not eat them!). Wash and tear the lamb’s lettuce, remove any wilted leaves and coarse roots, spin dry, and set aside. Wash the cherry tomatoes, halve them, and also set aside. Cut the lemon into slices approximately 3-5 mm thick, halve them, and set aside. Generously salt about 1.5 liters of water in a pasta pot with fleur de sel (it should taste like seawater). Lightly salt another 1.5 liters of water in a medium-sized pot and bring both pots to a boil. Now add the pasta to the pasta pot and the mussels to the other pot. Let both boil uncovered for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the tagliatelle has reached the desired firmness. Shake the mussel pot occasionally to mix the mussels and cook evenly. They are ready to eat when they are completely open (don’t serve any mussels that are still closed). In the meantime, spread the prepared lamb’s lettuce evenly on large, flat plates. Check the consistency of the Gorgonzola sauce and thicken to taste with a little thickener if necessary. Drain the cooked pasta and mussels. To serve, form a nest of tagliatelle in the center of the plate on top of the lamb’s lettuce, alternating the mussels and halved cherry tomatoes around the edges. Stir any mussel meat that may have been removed during cooking into the tagliatelle nests. Now pour the desired amount of Gorgonzola sauce over the tagliatelle and garnish with some chopped garden cress and lemon slices. A dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio goes wonderfully with this dish.