Off-Campus Kitchen: Mussels
The first time I had mussels, I was about five years old, vacationing with my family in Maine. We rowed a boat out to Captain Kidd, a tiny island off the coast in Frenchman Bay. We gathered seaweed and mussels right off the rocks, rowing back to shore in time for my aunt to steam our findings into a delicious lunch.
I made this dish on my own for the first time while studying abroad in Ireland, when I realized how much cheaper mussels were than most seafood at the market (when I went to the Hanover Co-op on Monday, mussels were $3.49 a pound). And when my boyfriend walked in to see the delicious mussel feast pictured, he was far more impressed than he should have been given the ease and inaffordability of the meal. As you can tell thus far, I love exposing the simple ingredients and techniques behind dishes that seem intimidatingly fancy. Mussels seem like a classy dish, and thus many amateur cooks are scared off. But the only skills you need to make this meal are chopping, pouring, boiling and draining.
1 pound mussels
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup parsley
1 clove garlic
1 shallot
1 cup dry white wine (use water or broth if you can’t buy wine)
1 package fresh linguine (adjust depending on hunger level)
Grated Parmesan (optional)
1. Clean the mussels. Soak them in fresh water for 20 minutes and remove from the water. Don’t pour them into a colander – the sand and grit the mussels have released will just get poured over the mussels if you do.
2. Mince the shallot and garlic. Chop the parsley, reserving the leaves and discarding the stems.
3. Add butter to saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot to the pan and sauté until the onion is translucent.
4. Add wine and parsley to saucepan and simmer for three minutes.
5. At this stage, add water to another saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the water has boiled, add the pasta! If you’re using fresh pasta, be aware that it takes less time (about three minutes) to cook than dry pasta does. Follow directions, cook pasta and drain.
6. While the pasta is cooking, add your cleaned mussels to the wine-onion pan. Keep over medium heat for five minutes or until all the mussels open.
Serve mussels and a few spoonfuls of sauce over pasta, adding Parmesan if desired. I served artichokes on the side, because a) I'm from California and want to represent and b) I think artichokes are the best vegetable to complement seafood. Here's how to cook an artichoke (I never bother with cutting off the tips, in case you're wondering).