SERVES 3

Have you ever wanted to seduce someone special? Better yet, just want them to fall in love with you! Have you ever wished for a potion that would render your subject passionately wild? STOP! I’ll let your imagination take it from here… I’ve got a super delicious pasta recipe that is going to drive you mad! I served this to some friends and they were baffled, their choice of word. Mine: scrumptious, wild, succulent, mouth-watering, lip smacking, finger-licking, lick your plate clean! CAUTION: this dish is potently filled with aphrodisiacs (ingredients with an asterisk.) Hope you’re ready because this is going to be love at first bite:

• .25 Kg raw mussels*
• .5 kg raw shrimp
• 1 tablespoon ginger*, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemongrass, finely chopped
• 3 garlic* cloves, finely chopped
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup coriander*, finely chopped
• 3 small tomatoes, medium chop
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 bay leafs
• 1/3 cup of white wine*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 250 grams pasta of choice- I used rice pasta

Cleaning:

Scrub the mussels with a brush under cold water to remove any barnacles, discarding any open or broken mussels along the way. Next, begin removing the beard or byssal thread. Grab onto the beard and pull it off in the direction of the hinge. Going the opposite direction can kill your mussel. So Be NICE! Soak the mussels in cold water for about 15 minutes. This is going to help them breathe and will get rid of most of the sand inside the shell. While the mussels are soaking, peel and devein the shrimp. To devein shrimp, just cut along the back deep enough to be able to access the vein. Now just pick up the vein from one end and pull it off. Next, rinse the shrimp under cold water and let it sit in ice. Begin prepping all other ingredients according to the instructions provided above. NOTE: Remove the mussels from the water but be sure not to strain them. Straining the mussels will get all that sand back where we don’t want it. Pat them dry.

Cooking:

Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep pot and then sautee onions, garlic, lemongrass and ginger. Add shrimp and sautee for 2 minutes on each side, now add the mussels, white wine, bay leafs, tomato, salt and half the coriander. Cover the lid and let it cook for about 4 minutes, give the pot a shake half way thru. Don’t hurt yourself! At this point, begin boiling the water for your pasta. You will know when the mussels are done, as soon as they open. Be sure to discard any that do not open. Discard the bay leaves. Take the cooked, strained pasta and pour it into the mussel and shrimp pot. Add the remaining coriander and a drizzle with a bit of olive oil (1 tablespoon.)

Devour!