Stuffed Mussels

This recipe brings back so many memories. My Spanish grandmother used to serve them as a starter for Christmas lunch. This was replacing the traditional “escargots”. In this recipe I have used coriander and chilli, but you can easily substitute them for parsley and French shallots.

Ingredients

24 large mussels
1 garlic clove crushed
1 French shallot chopped
1 red chilli chopped
100g of unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp chopped coriander
75g of fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp lemon juice and the zest of a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix the butter with the garlic, shallot, chilli, coriander, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Put the mussels into a large pan, cover and place over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan every now and then until the mussels have opened.

Let the mussels sit for a few minutes until they are cool enough to handle. Then drain the mussels through a colander, break off and discard the empty half-shells leaving the mussel meat in the other half before laying them out on a tray.

For ease of eating, you can use a sharp knife to cut the abductor mussel that holds the meat to the shell. This is optional but makes eating the mussel a lot easier after it is grilled.

Coat each mussel with the coriander and chilli butter.

Then finally sprinkle with a good layer of the breadcrumbs before
grilling the mussels for 2-3 minutes until they are crisp and golden brown.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Note: To help with the final presentation of the dish, you can put down a layer of rock salt and lay the mussels on top of it. This will keep them stable on the plate and prevent the shells from sliding around or tipping over.

Recipe By Tatiana, Flavoursome Delights
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings