Spaghetti with mussels and orange-scented nettles

Squeeze the juice of 12 oranges and peel the remaining 3. Pour the juice in a pan, add the peppercorns and when the liquid starts to boil add the salt.

Add the nettles thoroughly washed and dried and cook for few seconds. Remove the nettles using a spoon sieve and cool in cold water. After a few minutes of thermal shock, scoop the nettles out of the water, pluck the leaves from the stems, let dry and set aside.

In a large pan, heat up the extra virgin olive oil, the garlic and the chili. Then add the mussels and cover until they open. Add the dry white wine and allow to evaporate. Remove the mussels from the heat, shell them, and leave inside the pan. Remove the garlic.

Cook the Vermicelli pasta in the orange solution used to blanch the nettles for half of the cooking time shown on the pack. When that time has expired, transfer the pasta into the pan where the mussels are and finish cooking in that liquid. Add some cooking water, if necessary Finish cooking by adding some of the orange sauce and blend with the nettles, peeled orange wedges cut in half. Serve the Vermicelli hot.