Saturday, April 9, 2011

Mussels in Tomato Basil Garlic broth

This is my second time making mussels! The first time, I just used plain water when steaming/boiling the mussels, and added lemon at the end... but this time I thought I would make it more interesting.  This is my healthy version (no oil/fat in it) -  Hope you like it!
The recipe serves 2-4 people depending on how much you eat - we ate  A LOT lol.



Ingredients:
- 800 g of fresh Mussels (cleaned, rinsed and de-bearded)
- 4 plum tomatoes
- 1 - 2 large cloves of garlic
- pinch of dried basil (or fresh if you have it)
- lemon juice
- salt and pepper

To make the sauce:

1. Boil water in a large pot, and once it's come to the boil place the plum tomatoes in (make sure there's enough water to cover the tomatoes.
2. Boil them for around 15 minutes (or until you see the tomatoes softening and the skin peeling away)
3. Drain, and leave to cool for a bit before peeling the skin
4. Place tomatoes back in pot and on the heat, add around 1 cup of water.
5. Break up tomatoes with masher, and add salt/pepper, basil and crushed garlic
6. Bring up to the boil again, then lower the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

This sauce can be prepared in advance or right before cooking the mussels.  I had prepared the sauce earlier in the day, and you can either put it in the fridge or keep it in the covered pot.

To prepare the mussels:
1.  After making sure all mussels have been cleaned properly, discard any which aren't fresh.  If a mussel is open, and does not close after you tap the shell, then you must discard it.
2. Heat the tomato sauce which you prepared in the large pot; add a few more tablespoons of water if you need to. (Optional: I also added some roasted vine-tomatoes which I had made for lunch the day before).
3. Place mussels in pot, and put lid on pot.
4. Bring it up to the boil to steam the mussels.  Reduce heat a little, and leave mussels to cook for around 3 minutes, shaking the pot every so often.
5.  Remove the cooked (open) mussels, and place them in the serving bowl.  Discard any mussels which have not opened.
6.  Pour the rest of the tomato broth over the mussels
7. Finally, squeeze some lemon juice over the top.




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