Method

Serves 4-5

Spaghetti al nero di seppia con Cozze Verdi Neozelandesi di Maria Pia
Maria Pia's black spaghetti with New Zealand Greenlip mussels  

This is Maria Pia De Razza-Klein's  personal recipe as used in her celebrated Trattoria located at 55 Mulgrave St., Thorndon, Wellington.  Black spaghetti, made with a small percentage of squid ink, is available from most Italian and specialty food stores. Maria Pia imports "Abatianni" pasta from her region of Puglia , distributed under the "Maria Pia's Selection" brand by Moore Wilson in Wellington and Farro Fresh in Auckland.

Wash and scrape clean the mussels under running water using a blunt kitchen knife. Make sure to remove the 'beard'. 

Open the mussels by placing in a pre-heated pot. Splash with wine and some water, cover and let cook for several minutes, occasionally tossing in the pot.  Cook until the mussels are open. Discard any which do not open as this means they are dead and therefore should not be eaten. Conserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low flame. Add the garlic, chili and parsley. The idea is to infuse the oil with flavour  before removing the garlic and chili. Add the mussel cooking liquid and reduce by half before adding the tomato passata.  Mix well and add the mussels.

Taste and adjust for salt (often not required as the mussels impart a natural saltiness) and let cook for 5 minutes over moderate heat, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime cook the spaghetti al dente  by boiling no less than 5 litres of water and adding salt (the proportion is always 1 lt. of water  to 100g of pasta and 10g salt). Don't skimp on the salt if you want your pasta to taste truly Italian!  Check that the pasta does not overcook by biting into a strand. It should remain firm to the bite; not soggy. Look at the cross section; if it is still very white in the centre then it is undercooked.  Note that it is better to use your judgement by tasting rather than rigidly following the recommended cooking time on the packet! 

Strain well before adding to the pan.

Toss well so that the pasta is covered in the sauce.  Transfer to a large serving dish or bowl (alternately serve up on individual plates). Season with a twist of the black pepper mill before serving immediately.  

Serve with a dry Italian white wine such as Verdeca (Puglia), Greco di Tufo (Campania), Inzolia (Sicilia) or Verdicchio (Marche) 

* in summer you can substitute the bottled tomato sauce with a fresh sauce made from 2 ripe tomatoes. Plunge in boiling water until the skin cracks. Remove skin and seeds and chop.

Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a pan, add the tomatoes, season with salt and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add 2tbsp fresh basil.

Adjust seasoning to taste.