A Daily Mail roundup of eight Padella pasta dishes offers home cooks a chance to recreate the London pasta bar’s ingredient-forward recipes. One of the dishes featured is linguine with mussels, clams and ’nduja, a four‑person recipe that combines spicy, spreadable sausage with steamed shellfish and a lemon finish.
The recipe lists 1 kilogram each of scrubbed mussels and small clams, about 50 milliliters of extra virgin olive oil, three medium garlic cloves sliced, 100 milliliters of dry vermouth such as Noilly Prat, 400 grams of dried linguine or spaghetti, about 80 grams of softened ’nduja, 80 grams of unsalted butter cut into cubes, the juice and finely grated zest of half a lemon, three tablespoons of finely chopped curly parsley and crusty bread to serve. It advises cooks to discard any shellfish with broken shells or those that do not close when tapped.
The method begins by heating the oil in a large pan with a tight-fitting lid, frying the garlic over high heat until it starts to color, then adding the mollusks and vermouth and stirring briefly before covering to steam until shells open, about three to five minutes. Once the shells open, the recipe directs cooks to remove the shellfish with a slotted spoon and to strain and reserve the pan juices through a fine sieve. Any shellfish that remain closed should be discarded.
Cooks are then instructed to remove the mussels and clams from their shells, leaving a handful in their shells if desired for presentation. The pasta is cooked in well-salted boiling water until just al dente, then added to the reserved strained shellfish stock in the pan with the softened ’nduja. Cubes of cold butter are stirred in to create a glossy sauce, and the dish is finished with lemon juice, grated zest and chopped parsley. The recipe notes serving the pasta with crusty bread and seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Padella, known for its simple yet bold pasta dishes, emphasizes fresh ingredients and straightforward technique; the linguine with mussels, clams and ’nduja exemplifies that approach by balancing the heat and umami of ’nduja with briny shellfish and bright citrus. The Daily Mail list presents this recipe as one of eight that home cooks can attempt to replicate the restaurant’s flavors in their own kitchens.
The article’s instructions include standard food‑safety reminders for handling shellfish and encourage reserving the shellfish broth to flavor the pasta rather than discarding it. The combination of vermouth and the pan juices provides an aromatic steaming liquid for the shellfish and a concentrated base for the sauce.
For cooks attempting the dish, timing is important: shellfish should steam only until they open, and pasta should be added to the sauce while hot so the butter emulsifies into the strained stock and binds the strands. The recipe’s final acid from lemon juice and zest is suggested as a balancing element against the spicy, oily character of ’nduja.
The Daily Mail compilation is part of a broader trend of restaurant recipes being adapted for home kitchens, allowing diners to familiarize themselves with techniques used by popular chefs and venues. Padella’s focus on fresh pasta and straightforward sauces has made its dishes both popular in restaurants and adaptable for home cooking. The full Daily Mail piece lists seven other Padella recipes for readers seeking further options.