Mussels in white wine make the quickest seafood dinner: one pan, 25 minutes and a sauce for dunking bread. Fresh Black Sea mussels are sold at the market in Burgas, and garlic, wine and lemon give them a rich flavour.
Ingredients
- 2 kgmussels in their shells
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 40 gbutter (20 g for frying and 20 g cold for the sauce)
- 1 (150 g)onion, finely chopped
- 6 clovesgarlic, finely chopped
- 250 mldry white wine
- 1/2 tspchilli flakes (optional)
- 1 bunch (30 g)parsley, finely chopped
- 1lemon
- to tasteblack pepper and salt
- 400 gcountry bread for dipping in the sauce
Method
Clean the mussels
Rinse the mussels under cold running water and pull off the stringy beards. Throw away any that are broken or that stay open when you tap them on the worktop.
Do not soak the mussels in fresh water. It kills them and they lose their flavour.
Fry the onion
Heat the olive oil and 20 g of butter in a wide pan with a lid over a medium heat. Fry the onion for 3–4 minutes, until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic
Add the garlic and the chilli flakes, if you are using them. Stir for 30 seconds, until the garlic softens but does not brown.
Pour in the wine
Pour in the wine and let it simmer over a high heat for 2 minutes, until the sharp smell of alcohol is gone.
Steam the mussels
Tip the mussels into the pan, cover and cook over a high heat for 4–5 minutes. Shake the pan once halfway through. The mussels are ready when the shells open.
Do not add salt until you have tasted the sauce, because the mussels release sea water.
Finish the sauce
Throw away any mussels that stayed closed. Take the pan off the heat and add the remaining 20 g of cold butter, the parsley and the juice of half a lemon. Shake the pan so the sauce comes together. Season with black pepper and salt only if needed.
Serve at once
Spoon the mussels and sauce into deep bowls and put out one more bowl for the empty shells. Cut the other half of the lemon into wedges.
How to serve
Serve in deep bowls with the toasted bread, lemon wedges and a separate bowl for the shells.
Per serving (approximate): 500 kcal · protein 25 g · fat 18 g · carbohydrates 56 g