Mussel Your Way Through Summer

I am still enjoying the beautiful days of summer and hope you are too! There’s nothing more delightful to me than eating outdoors on my porch with a one pot meal of mussels steamed in a delicious marinara sauce.  Savor the delicious flavors of summertime fresh~ from the Sea and farms. Mussels are in season, full, sweet, and all protein, making this a low calorie meal…unless of course you can’t stop soaking up the tasty liquid with that crusty baguette bread! You can prepare mussels in so many different ways~ in fish dishes, with pasta, grilled, cold as seafood salad. My favorite way is steamed in a light wine marinara. So whether you’re picking shells at the beach, or soaking up the summer sun, there’s nothing better than these shells in a pot! Buy them at your local fish market and rinse well. You can use farm fresh tomatoes and all the fresh herbs that are growing in your yard. A word of caution~you will end up needing a bib and wet cloth for those fingers, you can try and use a spoon…but slurping the mussel up out of the shell with the sauce is the best! The empty shell becomes the spoon. Don’t forget that glass of wine and a grilled crusty loaf of bread. Mussel away! Enjoy! Xo Denise

As a Main Meal for 4

6-7 lbs. of fresh cleaned mussels
2 cans of hand smashed San Marzano tomatoes (or use farm fresh chopped)
1 large Vidalia onion diced
6-7 fresh garlic cloves minced
½ cup fresh parsley chopped
1 cup Italian diced pancetta or 3 links chorizo sausage diced 
2 cups dry white wine 
2 bottles of clam juice 
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2T butter
2 t kosher salt
2 t fresh ground black pepper
1 t red pepper flakes 

In a large pot heat oil and butter and sauté onion until soft and transparent. Add garlic and sauté for 3 minutes, add pancetta or chorizo for a few minutes until cooked. Add tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes. Add wine and clam broth and all herbs and spices. Now taste for seasoning.  Add mussels for 10 minutes or so with a covered lid, stir from bottom. When mussels open you’re done. Scoop into bowls and top with fresh herbs.