Mussels with Tomato & Chilli
Mussels – a must have recipe for every kitchen. This variation has all the best qualities of a good mussel recipe – simple profiles that accentuate the mussels’ flavour. You never want to overpower the natural ocean taste, that would defeat the purpose. This recipe uses the Biroix skillet pan, and if you have it, the Biroix Dutch Oven lid. Trapping the steam inside a cast iron enclosure, forcing the mussels to open up and reveal their secrets to us. Hidden away in their dark dwellings, one can make sense of the Latin origin of the name “mussel” – musculus (“little mouse”) as the small sea creature was thought to resemble a mouse in size and colour. How odd, yet delightful.
Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
What you need:
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- Salt & pepper
- 400g of cherry tomatoes
- 400g of mussels
- ¼ cup of white wine
- Juice of half a lemon
Garnish:
- Chopped coriander
- Red chilli
- Buttered bread for dipping
How to make:
- Prepare the mussels by scrubbing well and removing beards – pull firmly and they should come out.
- Place your Biroix skillet pan over a medium heat and add the oil.
- Once hot, add the red onion and cook until translucent, around 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are blistered, around 4 minutes.
- Add the wine and mussels, cover with your Biroix Dutch Oven lid (if you have it, otherwise a lid from a suitable pot is fine) and cook until mussels have opened, around 3 minutes.
- Discard any mussels that don’t open – do not eat them.
- Taste and season with salt only if needed. Grind pepper to taste and squeeze over the juice of a lemon.
- Garnish with fresh chilli and coriander.
- Serve with bread for dipping.
This recipe was made especially for Biroix by the talented taste Queen - The MacPherson Diaries