This recipe is from my cookbook Tonja’s Table: Menus and Recipes For Every Occasion.
I haven’t made these in awhile and was craving something flavorful and easy for dinner. I love sharing plates and they appear often at our table. These mussels are French fast food at its best. If you’ve never made mussels at home, you really should. It’s one of our family favorites because grilled sourdough dipped in this briny savory sauce laced with lemon, parsley, shallots and white wine is addicting. You will want to double dip. Plus, mussels are inexpensive, elegant, and the dish comes together in 15 minutes. Can’t beat that.
Tip:
If mussels don’t open during cooking, discard them.
Farm-raised mussels are generally quite clean when they are sold. You will still want to scrub under cold water and discard any are that are cracked or open.
- 2 Tbls. butter
- 2 shallots, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 pounds mussels, cleaned
- 2 to 3 Tbls. heavy cream (optional)
- 1 Tbls. fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 3 Tbls. minced fresh parsley leaves
- 1 loaf sourdough bread
- olive oil for drizzling
- Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add shallot, garlic, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until vegetables are very soft 5-10 minutes.
- Increase heat to high and add wine. Bring to a boil and let reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Whisk in cream (if desired), then add mussels and stir, cover, and cook, shaking pan constantly and peeking every 30 seconds to stir. As soon as all the mussels are open, they are done. This should take 2-3 minutes. Add parsley and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
- To grill sourdough bread, drizzle with olive oil and place on grill 2-3 minutes a side. Alternatively, place bread on a cookie sheet and broil 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer mussels to a warm serving bowl. Serve immediately with grilled bread.
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