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Recipes

  • Handling mussels

    • Store mussels in fridge between 0°C and 4°C. Before cooking rinse mussels in cold water.
    • Mussels that don’t open are ok to eat – sometimes they just hang on harder. It is a common myth that after cooking closed mussels should be discarded… but this is not the case. They just haven’t let go and you need to slide a knife inside the shell to cut the adductor muscle.
    • Mussels attach to ropes using a fine byssal thread or “beard”. Most of this can be removed at harvest and processing but some is occasionally left in the shell. Inspect and remove prior to or after cooking.

    Steaming mussels

    • Rinse mussels in fresh water.
    • Pull out any remaining beards*.
    • Place mussels in shallow pan or saucepan with lid. Do NOT overfill as bottom mussels will open before the ones at the top.
    • Add about 1cm of liquid to the pan (e.g. water or white wine).
    • Place lid on and then heat until they start to steam. Lift lid and check. If the mussels are not all open yet then replace lid and give a gentle stir or shake, allow to steam again until the lid starts to rattle. If some mussels remain closed check by sliding a knife into them and prising open.
    • You can use some of the mussel liquor to add to your sauce.
    • White wine can be used instead of water. Vegetables and herbs such as celery, onion, parsley, carrot, coriander, garlic, tarragon, chilli or basil can be added to the mussels when steaming or sautéed and added before steaming.* Beards are more easily removed after steaming though this is not recommended if opening the mussels in a pre-prepared sauce.

    Lizzie’s Tomato Chilli Mussels

     Ingredients

    • 2kg fresh blue mussels
    • 1 cup water
    • 3 400g cans crushed or diced tomatoes
    • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    • 1 tblspn fresh basil
    • 1-2 chilli, finely chopped
    • 1 tblspn olive oil
    • 3 tblspn tomato paste
    • 1 tspn sugar
    • 1/ cup white wine
    • Salt
    • Pepper

     

    Method

    1. Rinse clean the mussels and pull out the beard. Place mussels into wide, heavy pan with water. Cover and cook for approximately 5–7 minutes, gently shaking the pan now and again.
    2. In a seperate sauce pan saute garlic in olive oil for 2 minutes over low to medium heat. Add tomato paste and stir for a further 2 minutes. Keep stirring so the tomato paste doesn’t burn. Add tomatoes, chopped chilli, fresh basil, sugar, salt and pepper and white wine.
    3. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add steamed mussels and allow to warm through. Turn off heat. Garnish with fresh basil.
    4. Serve with crusty bread.
    5. As alternative add this to spaghetti for a main meal.

    Serves 4

    Half Shell Mussels Kilpatrick style

    Ingredients

    • 2kg fresh blue mussels
    • 1 cup water
    • 200g bacon
    • 200g grated tasty cheese
    • Sauce
    • 2 tblspn tomato sauce
    • 2 tblspn Worcestershire sauce
    • 100g butter, melted

     

    Method

    1. Rinse clean the mussels and pull out the beard. Place mussels into wide, heavy pan with water. Cover and cook for approximately 5–7 minutes, gently shaking the pan now and again. Once open, place mussels in cold water to stop the cooking process. Discard top shell of mussel and place a single layer on baking tray.
    2. Pre-heat oven or grill to 200°C.
    3. In a fry pan, fry bacon until crisp and set aside on paper towel.
    4. Mix equal quantities of the melted butter, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce.
    5. Top each mussel with a little bacon, cheese and a teaspoon of the sauce.
    6. Grill or bake until cheese is melted.
    7. Be careful not to overcook. Serve immediately.

    Serves 4-6


    Mussel Linguine

    Ingredients

    • extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 cloves of garlic , sliced
    • 1-2 pinches of crumbled dried chilli
    • 1 anchovy fillet
    • 12 ripe cherry tomatoes , halved
    • 250 g fresh linguine
    • 1 kg mussels , washed and debearded
    • a small bunch of fresh parsley , chopped
    • sea salt
    • freshly ground black pepper

     

    Method

    Get a pan of salted water on to boil. Pour a few drizzles of extra virgin olive oil into a separate little pan and put it on a medium heat.
    Add the garlic, dried chilli and anchovy, then squeeze in and add the cherry tomatoes as the garlic begins to fry – at no point should the garlic take on any colour, but you need the heat to be hot enough to melt the anchovies. The juice from the tomatoes and oil will make a light, very delicate and simple sauce.
    Add the linguine to the pan of boiling water and cook according to packet instructions.
    Meanwhile, add a good handful of washed and debearded mussels to the tomato sauce. Give the pan a little toss, then place a lid on top and cook until all the mussels are open. As usual with mussels, if any remain closed after cooking, throw them away.
    Add a handful of chopped parsley to the pan.
    The pasta will now be a little under al dente and only a minute away from being ready.
    Put the pot back on a low heat for an extra minute or two to cook the pasta perfectly – it will suck up all the lovely mussel juice.
    To finish, drizzle over a good bit of olive oil, season to taste and serve immediately.

    Serves 4

    Thai Curry Mussels

    Ingredients

    • 2kg fresh blue mussels
    • 6 shallots, finely chopped
    • 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    • 2cm ginger, peeled and shredded
    • 2 tblspns red or green thai curry paste
    • 1 cup fresh coriander chopped
    • 2 tsps fresh mint
    • 1 cup of coconut milk
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 tblspn peanut oil
    • 1 tblspn fish sauce

     

    Method

    Rinse clean the mussels and pull out the beard. In a large deep fry pan fry the garlic, ginger and shallots in peanut oil until lightly brown.
    Add curry paste and cook 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add water and bring to boil.
    Reduce to medium heat and add mussels, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure mussels are cooked evenly. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, coriander and mint.

    Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with a little coriander and mint

    Serves 4

     

    Mussels in white wine (moules marinières)

    Ingredients

    • 4 kg 
mussels
    • 125g
 butter
    • 1
 garlic clove, crushed
    • 4 
French shallots, sliced
    • 1 
leek, sliced
    • 2
 bay leaves
    • ½
 bunch thyme, leaves picked
    • 250 ml 
(1 cup) white wine
    • chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
    • pepper, to season

     

    Method

    Clean mussels under running water, scrubbing off any dirt or seaweed and removing beards.
    Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic, shallot, leek, bay leaves and thyme. Cook for 6–7 minutes or until vegetables are translucent.
    Add the mussels and the wine, cover and increase heat to high. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3–5 minutes or until the mussels have just opened.
    Discard any unopened mussels. Transfer mussels to serving dishes and pour over the liquid. Garnish with the parsley.
    Season with pepper, if you like, but never with salt – the mussels will be salty enough. Serve.

    Steamed Mussels with fresh Lemon Dressing

    Ingredients

    • 2kg fresh blue mussels
    • 4 shallots, finely chopped
    • 1 tblspn Italian parsley
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 tspn thyme
    • 1 cup white wine
    • Freshly ground black pepper
    • Lemon dressing
    • Juice of 2 lemons
    • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tblspn Italian parsley
    • Salt
    • Freshly ground pepper
    • 1 cup olive oil

     

    Method

    Rinse clean the mussels and pull out the beard. Place mussels into wide, heavy pan with shallots, herbs, pepper and wine.
    Cover and cook for approximately 5–7 minutes, gently shaking the pan now and again.

    Prepare the dressing by combining all ingredients lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Slowly add oil and whisk sauce to thicken.
    Arrange mussels evenly on serving plates, with little bowls of the dressing for dipping mussels in.

    Serve with crusty bread.

    Serves 4-6


    Seafood Paella

    Ingredients

    • 1 head of garlic
    • 125 ml (½ cup) extra virgin olive oil
    • 1½ finely diced brown onions
    • about 10 thyme sprigs
    • 1½ red capsicums, diced
    • 1½ green capsicums, diced
    • salt
    • 5 medium tomatoes, peeled, diced and seeded
    • 400g paella rice
    • 1.3 litres fish stock mixed with 1 tbsp tomato paste
    • 400g cleaned calamari pieces
    • 12 mussels
    • 500g cubed firm fish, like blue eye
    • 1 cup broad beans (or peas), approximately
    • 12 large green prawns
    • 60 ml (¼ cup) fish stock mixed with ½ tbsp toasted saffron
    • 600g clams
    • ½ cup chopped parsley
    • about 12 lemon wedges

     

    Method

    Place the paella pan on low heat. Position the head of garlic in the centre of the pan and pour the oil over the garlic, spreading the oil a bit. Add the diced onion and stir briefly. Add the thyme and cook for the about 5 minutes.
    Add the red and green capsicum and season with salt. Stir briefly and cook for 10 minutes.
    Add the tomato and stir in, then cook for a few minutes more. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Add the fish stock mixed with the tomato paste.
    Add the calamari, the fish and the broad beans. Place the prawns neatly on top and add the saffron stock mixture. Top with the mussels and clams and simmer until the shells have opened, the seafood is cooked and the rice is tender.
    It’s a good idea to cover the paella with foil or a lid for the last 5 minutes of the cooking.
    Add plenty of chopped parsley and cover with one or two tea towels. Turn off the heat and rest the rice for 5-10 minutes.
    Serve with lemon wedges.

    Serves 4-6

    Potato and leek soup with mussels

    Ingredients

    • 1/2 kg Mussels
    • 4 Leeks stalks (some green remaining)
    • 3 Medium Sized Potatoes
    • 1 Onion
    • 4 sprigs of thyme
    • 3 Garlic Cloves
    • 3 tbsp. Olive Oil
    • 1 cup white wine
    • 2 cups vegetable stock or water
    • 1/4 cup heavy cream
    • Parsley and Chives for Garnish
    • Salt and Pepper

     

    Method

    Slice the leek down the middle and clean out all the sand and grit that may be between the fibers. Chop the leeks, potatoes and onion coarsely.

    Heat up a large pot on a medium heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oi. When the pot is warm add the garlic, onions, leeks, and thyme and sauté very slowly for about 6 minutes until the onions become soft and translucent. Add the potatoes and sweat for a further two minutes on a medium heat before adding the salt and pepper; Add the vegetable stock and turn the heat down to a low heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Add the cream to the soup and bring back to the boil; When the soup boils remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. blend using a hand blender or food processor. Blend until smooth then pass the soup through a sieve if you desire a smoother texture.

    For the mussels
    Add 1 tbsp of oil to a hot pot. Add the cleaned mussels to the hot oil Add the white wine and cover the pot. Cook until the mussels have opened.
 With a slotted spoon, remove the opened mussels from the pot and set aside in a large bowl. Steam any closed ones another 1 or 2 minutes to see if they’ll open.
 Strain the cooking liquid into a bowl through a strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth to trap any grit from the mussels. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes to reduce and concentrate the flavor then add the reduced liquid to the soup.

    Assembly
    Remove the mussels from their shells. Leave 4 mussels per serving for garnish. Garnish with chopped parsely and chives.

    Serves 4