Mussel Soup with Vegetables

Fresh mussels are not widely available in shops here so whenever I go shopping and see them at the counter, I straightaway buy them. As you may know from my earlier posts, I am still a rookie as far as mussel recipes are concerned because I have prepared them only in two ways so far: with white wine and pasta.

Therefore when I bought them last time, I wanted to prepare them differently and cooking a soup with mussels seemed to be an idea worth pursuing. And it certainly was as the result proved it – this soup was a hit: delightful taste of mussels, loads of vegetables, some of them softer but other ones, like pepper and celery, wonderfully crunchy. Plus also all the warm colors of the ingredients. We all loved it and I will definitely make it (many times) again!

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

1 kg fresh mussels,

150ml dry white wine,

400ml water,

2 tbsp butter,

1 small red onion, thinly chopped,

1 small leek (about 60g), thinly sliced,

1 medium carrot (about 120g), thinly chopped,

2 tomatoes (about 200g), peeled, deseeded and thinly chopped,

2 garlic cloves, crushed,

1 handful of parsley leaves, thinly chopped,

1 handful of basil leaves, thinly chopped,

1 celery stick, thinly sliced,

0.5 red pepper, deseeded and thinly chopped,

100ml single cream,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Prepare the mussels:                                                                               * rinse them very well in cold water.
   * take a mussel: if it is damaged, discard it straight away and if it is open, give it a vigorous tap. If it stays open, discard.
   * if a mussel is closed (or closes after tapping), wash it and scrape off with a knife any barnacles; remove “beard” that may be between the two shells.
   * repeat the above with all the mussels.
   * rinse all of them again.
2. Pour 75ml of wine and 150ml of water to a big pot, put the mussels there, bring everything to boil and cook covered for 4-5 minutes.
3. Transfer with a slotted spoon the cooked mussels to a bowl and leave till cool enough to handle.
4. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve, layered with a cloth to eliminate any sand and impurities.
5. In the same pot (rinsed) melt the butter, add the chopped onion, leek, carrot, tomato and garlic; fry for 2 minutes on medium-high heat.
6. Lower the heat down and fry the vegetables for 3 minutes longer, then add the reserved cooking liquid, the rest of wine (75ml) and of the water (250ml), the chopped parsley and basil and cook for approx. 10 minutes (till carrots are no longer hard).
7. Remove the mussels from their shells but leave a few for garnish.
8. Add the mussels, celery, red pepper, cream* and seasoning and serve the soup.

*In the original recipe double cream was used. I used single cream that worked very well but to make sure it doesn’t split when you add it to the soup, you should at first add a few spoons of the liquid to the cream, mix it well and only then add to the soup while stirring it.

The above dish is based on a recipe from “The New Fish Cooking Encyclopedia” by Kate Whiteman

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Spaghetti with Mussels in Tomato Sauce

Once I became more confident with mussels (please see my earlier post), I decided to cook them with one of my favourite ingredients – pasta. As it was in the case with Mussels in White Wine Sauce, the preparation of this mussels recipe was not too difficult but the final meal looked really impressive: as if I had spent hours in the kitchen.

In truth, this meal can be finished in 30 minutes (excluding the mussels’ preparation, please check here how to clean mussels), if everything is planned and organized properly. Once the mussels are ready to use, you should start cooking the tomato sauce. While the sauce thickens, you steam the mussels and cook the spaghetti. Then it is just a question of finishing the sauce and mixing everything together. And with that little to medium effort, you end up with a stunning and delicious meal.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 big portions):

1 kg mussels,

2 tbsp olive oil,

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped,

1 can (400g) tomatoes,

125 ml dry white wine,

200g spaghetti,

1 tbsp chopped parsley,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Prepare the mussels:                                                                           * rinse them very well in cold water.
   * take a mussel: if it is damaged, discard it straight away and if it is open, give it a vigorous tap. If it stays open, discard.
   * if a mussel is closed (or closes after tapping), wash it and scrape off with a knife any barnacles; remove “beard” that may be between the two shells.
   * repeat the above with all the mussels.
   * rinse all of them again.
2. On a medium heat warm up the olive oil, add the chopped garlic and fry for 30 seconds, add the tomatoes and cook everything for 10 minutes. If you are using whole tomatoes (I prefer them to the chopped ones), you can simply mash them with a fork while they are cooking.
3. Put the wine and the mussels to a big pot, cover with a tight lid and steam them on a high heat for 5 minutes shaking vigorously every now and then.
4. With a slotted spoon transfer the mussels to a big bowl and keep them warm.
5. Strain the mussels’ cooking liquid through a very fine sieve (you want to eliminate any sand and grit) and add 200ml of it to the cooking tomatoes to provide extra tastes; continue cooking the tomato sauce for approx. 10 minutes till it thickens.
6. In the meantime cook the spaghetti al dente in salted water as per your packet instruction and then drain.
7. Add the seasoning and chopped parsley to the tomato sauce, and in a big bowl or pot mix with the spaghetti and mussels. If the dish is too dry, you may add a bit of the leftover mussels’ cooking liquid.

The recipe was adapted from “The New Fish Cooking Encyclopedia” by Kate Whiteman

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Mussels in White Wine Sauce

I don’t know about you, but there have always been meals that I have been scared to prepare. I either think that a recipe is so complicated that I would spend hours making the dish, or that the ingredients are too difficult to handle. One meal that consistently scared me was cooking mussels.

However, one day I decided to finally face my fears and bought those mussels. And I realized that they aren’t as difficult as I thought! Though it takes some time to get the mussels ready, the method is not hard at all. So, how to clean mussels? First, they have to be rinsed. The opened ones should be tapped on the kitchen surface, and if they close then they can be used; if they stay open it means they are dead, and should be thrown away with the damaged mussels. Next, all of the closed mussels should be cleaned and rinsed again. Once the mussels are ready to use, it takes only several minutes to cook this delicious meal.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 portions):
1 kg mussels,

1 tbs butter,

2 shallots, finely chopped,

125ml white wine,

1 bay leaf,

1 tbsp chopped parsley.

METHOD:

1. Prepare the mussels:                                                                               * rinse them very well in cold water.
   * take a mussel: if it is damaged, discard it straight away and if it is open, give it a vigorous tap. If it stays open, discard.
   * if a mussel is closed (or closes after tapping), wash it and scrape off with a knife any barnacles; remove “beard” that may be between the two shells.
   * repeat the above with all the mussels.
   * rinse all of them again.
2. In a big pan (big enough for all the mussels) melt the butter, add the shallots and cook over low heat for 3-5 minutes until translucent.
3. Pour in the wine, add the bay leaf and bring to boil.
4. Add the mussels, cover the pan tightly with a lid and steam on a high heat for 5 minutes, shake the pan vigorously 1-2 times in between.
5. Remove the bay leaf and any unopened mussels; add the chopped parsley, stir and serve straight away with baguette to mop up the sauce.

The recipe was adapted from “The New Fish Cooking Encyclopedia” by Kate Whiteman.

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