Mussels are a funny little things… They make me think of my friend who loves boiled eggs for breaky, but sometimes in the middle of preparing her toast & eggs, repels at the thought of eating ‘wet egg’ and sets them aside for another time. I am the same with mussels. Sometimes, I love love love them. But sometimes, I completely psych myself out into thinking they’re repellent.
My partner never shies away from a Mussel though & over the weekend I received a special request to make a steaming batch as a late afternoon snack. Though I was a little late getting them on the table, it was the perfect pre dinner morsel to whet the appetite.
I use probably one of the most well known (and EASY) combinations to flavour my mussels, white wine & leek. Match. Made. In. Heaven!
It’s a most affordable, most adaptable, most delightful, most finger licking good & actually quite healthy (aside from the wodge of butter) recipe, I urge you to give it a go.
Serves 2 – 4
(recommended as a starter or light meal
1kg Mussels, cleaned
1 small leek
1 red eschalot
1 small fennel bulb
1 clove garlic
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup strained tomato juice*
20g butter
Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped herbs – I used chervil & parsley
* I was lucky to have had an amazing jar of Mum’s pure tomato puree that had separated into the clearest of liquids and it’s pulpy counterpart. I used the clear juice, but you could just as easily use a small amount of sugo or passata.
Method
Slice the leek into half moons, the fennel finely, the eschalot into rings and chop the garlic finely.
Melt butter with a little olive oil in a heavy based dish, saute all four ingredients over a low heat until tender and translucent, season with salt and pepper.
Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by half, then add the tomato liquid and reduce again by one quarter.
Add the mussels and half of the herbs, cover and cook until the mussels have opened.
This won’t take very long at all so don’t go too far!
At this point you could easily add a dash of cream, but I just gave the pot a fresh handful of herbs and a good stir to distribute all the vegetables around the pot and into all the opened shells.
Serve with toasted & buttered bread to mop up the broth… You must not forget the bread. It’s just as important as the mussels in this dish.
Seafood often speaks of summer for me, but I think this is the perfect cold weather seafood dish with the autumnal leek, warm broth and hot buttered toast to warm your insides.
Salted & Striped 