Mussels Provencale

BRAG ALERT: So this one time I was in the South of France, and I pretty much ate mussels and drank rose from carafes every day, during a balmy evening on a beach most likely.  It was basically devine.  That was 11 years ago. And now have this wonderful local seafood shop, and they always have these fresh bags of mussels.  Every time I go there I think about buying some, and then go, "not today...". Until, this weekend, I finally bought some and set about trying to recreate the whole experience.


Now technically I have my seasons all wrong.  See here in Melbourne it's currently freezing and windy and raining sideways and all in all roast chicken or spicy tagine or maybe even self-saucing pudding for dinner kind of weather.  But we had mussels provencale, and let me tell you, they work in all seasons.  I added some unconventional vegetabley ingredients, to up the nutritional and stodge content a bit, and you could do likewise with whatever is in the fridge (fennel would work well as would onion, shallots, leek, zucchini or capsicum).  But as long as you have the basics - garlic, chilli, tomatoes, wine - you can't really go wrong.


Ingredients: 

• Mussels
• 1 tin crushed tomatoes
• white wine 
• olive oil
• 2 or 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 hot red chilli, finely chopped
• 2 squash
• 1/2 cup puy lentils
• salt and pepper
• fresh crusty bread and butter to serve

First you have to prepare the mussels.  I had never cooked them before so wasn't sure I was doing it right.  By since my dish turned out ok I'm guessing this process is acceptable: Rinse under cold water a few times, then trim off the beards and scrub the shells with a scourer to get any grit off.  These mussels had lots of beards.

Then soak the whole lot in a bowl of cold water about 10 minutes.  Change the water and soak again for another 20 mins or so, this time adding some salt and flour to the water.  I was told this would help remove sand and grit from the mussels.  Not sure of the science but the mussels were grit free, so it's probably a good idea.

While your mussels are soaking, fry up your garlic and chilli in some olive oil.  Once softened and fragrant, add the tin of tomatoes and a cup of white wine (use a good quality wine, you'll drink the rest later).  Grate or finely chop your squash (or vegetables of choice) and add to the mix along with your lentils and bring the whole thing to the boil.  At this point I also added about half a cup of water as I knew the lentils would absorb a lot of liquid.  If not using lentils, probably skip this part.  Cover and simmer the whole lot for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked, and top up with wine or water if it's getting too thick. 

Finely chop a couple of big handfuls of parsley and add one handful to the pot.  Then rinse your mussels one last time and add them as well.  Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the mussels have opened.  Then add the remaining parsley.

Discard any that don't open, then serve with the fresh bread and butter for mopping up the broth, and your crisp white wine.  We stuffed ourselves on these little puppies last night and still didn't get through the whole lot. Oh boy!