Mussels: the French way

I really love mussels.  In my book, mussels are the fastest and bestest thing you can make and yet I’ve never prepared them for anyone who said, “What?  Those again?”  The main thing is being sure you buy nice, fresh ones.  After that it’s hard to go wrong.  I’ve discovered that my fish counter gets them straight from the mussel farm on Tuesday morning, so I know when to plan on them.

the ideal garden lunch

Sometimes I make them with different things and serve them with pasta, but this time I made a variation on Moules Mariniere.  The variation happened because I had no parsley (not yet grown up enough) and no white wine, so instead this is moules with basil and prosecco, which is of course our local version of cheap champagne.

The only thing that took any time was removing the mussels’ beards, which is just a little fibrous brush that the mussel used to attach itself to its home.  Farmed mussels are sold in net bags that weigh approximately one kilo each, so I always have to buy more than one person can logically eat.  This bag weighed 1.3 kilo, so I invited my neighbor Ann to lunch with me.  I’m tempted to make every Wednesday that I’m home mussels in the garden day and invite everybody over, buying half a kilo or one pound per person.

Moules Barzotti

for 2 people, served with good bread chunks

• 1 kilo mussels, rinsed and with beards removed
• 1 ounce (30 g) butter
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thickly
• 1 tablespoon good mustard
• half a bottle (.375 l) cheap brut champagne or prosecco
• a handful of basil, washed and sliced thinly

You can tell it probably isn”t Italian because it starts with butter.  My Italian versions start with oil.  Anyway, melt the butter in a big pot that has a lid.  Sauté the garlic in the butter very gently, then add the mustard and the wine and at last the cleaned mussels.  Pop the lid on and bring to a boil.  Check in about 2 minutes.  When the mussels open, they are done.  As soon as they are done, toss in the basil and stir about with a big spoon.

Serve the mussels in soup bowls/ pasta plates making sure to serve some of the broth in each.  Pass chunks of crusty bread to sop up the sauces and serve the rest of the Prosecco.  Make sure to put a big container on the table in which to discard the empty shells.

We loved every minute of this lunch, and the smell drew Ivano to the table, too, where he regretted that he’s already eaten too well to munch on the few mussels we’d left.

If you keep this in mind for those days when everything is running late and you’re famished at the end of your day, you can just stop by the market for mussels and have supper on the table in no time flat.  And I bet no one will say, “What?  Those again?” unless you have those days everyday and eat mussels every night– in which case we’ll have to look at some more recipes, right?

By the way, mussels are also a very low calorie protein source, but watch out how much butter you use.