Also does the thought of seafood stress you? Mussels are so easy to cook and they are budget friendly (remember I am saving for a house!)
I made this on a Wednesday in less than 30mins, I had James de-beard the mussels which sounds far worse that it actually is - I've done this before, you just grab the little 'beard' thing and pull it up and out/down sorta thing, there are plenty of you-tube videos on this!
We went to the shops and they were on special for $5/kg and New Zealand produce which is all I would buy aside from Australian produce, so I googled a few recipes and found this one from taste.com
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed- 2 small red chillies, deseeded, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste1kg tomatoes, finely chopped1 lemon, rind finely grated, juiced2 teaspoons caster sugar1/2 cup dry white wine1.5kg mussels, beards removed (see note)1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly choppedcrusty bread, to serve
As you can see what I had didn't really match up but the principle is the same.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 brown onion sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tins of diced tomato
- 2 fresh tomatoes chopped up (that's all we had )
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Birdseye chillis (seeds left in)
- 2 teaspoon hot flaked chilli
- 1 kg mussels - de bearded
- 3 tablespoons parsley (I just had the herb tube)
- 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
Method:
- Heat oil in a large pan, with garlic, after a minute add onion, fresh and tinned tomatoes
- Let it thicken a little and add all other ingredients except olives and mussels
- Cook this on a medium temperature for about 15 minutes
- Add water if you think it is too thick
- Add mussels and olives and cover, cook for 7-10 mins shaking it a few times to coat mussels
- Take off the heat and serve!!
- Can serve with bread or home-made garlic bread! (Just mix a little minced garlic with butter, spread on bread and grill)