Fagioli e cozzeMussels and cannellini beans
In Naples, fagioli e cozze is the trattoria lunch of late spring and summer, when the mussels from the bay are plump and cheap, and it also turns up on the Christmas Eve table across Campania. Creamy cannellini and sweet mussels share one pan with garlic, chilli and a few cherry tomatoes, so the mussel juices turn the beans into a light, briny stew you mop up with toasted bread. A portion gives about 24 g of protein, from the mussels and the beans, for roughly 330 kcal. The common mistake is salting before the mussels open: their liquor is already salty, so taste only at the end. Before cooking, throw away any mussel with a cracked shell or one that stays open when tapped, and after cooking throw away any that stay shut. Chef's tip: crush a ladle of the beans against the side of the pan before the mussels go in; the starch thickens the broth so it clings to every shell.



