About the Recipe
After learning to cook mussels on our cycling holiday on Mallorca this has become one of my staples. The mussels are great as an entree for quite a few people or as a main for 4. Geoff learnt to clean and cook squid in Mallorca too - we were completely captivated by the fish market in Palma that we bought without thinking and took them back to the little town house we had in the tiny village of Alaro and struggled to work out what to do - thank god for Google and Youtube!
The mussels go very well with a rose or a cheeky white...
Ingredients
1 kg packet of mussels (Great value at Coles Mona Vale)
2 short spicy pieces of chorizo
clove garlic
large pinch chilli flakes (or thinly sliced small chilli)
mixture of aromatics (fennel, onions, capsicum, spring onions, eschallots, leeks)
asparagus or celery or both.
fish stock or white wine (if using white wine - get some mixed herbs and bay leaf) - the frozen fish stock at Oceana Traders in Avalon is incredible!
Preparation
Step 1
Chose a heavy based saucepan to use for the mussels (I use our Creuset as it gives a nice even heat). Chop up a mixture of the aromatices so that they would reach roughly 10cm depth in the pan. For example I will often do 1 leek, a large onion, a capsicum, and some fennel - but use whatever you have around. Chop up celery and/or asparagus and add to the aromatic mix.
Step 2
Chop up garlic and chilli and slice chorizo. Keep separate.
Step 3
Heat some oil in the Crueset and add garlic, chilli (or chilli flakes) and sliced chorizo - cook until chorizo browns a bit.
Step 4
Add aromatics and stir - cook until they soften a bit and add fish stock (or wine and herbs) up to just cover the aromatics.
Step 5
Bring to boil, drain mussels and place on top of mixture (the mussels are generally already bearded) - cover with lid and cook for 7 to 8mins - it's ready when most of the shells are open (generally at 7mins - set your timer!)
Step 6
Turn into a large bowl and serve with fresh bread (or toast), lots of butter and make sure you have spoons for the soup.