Steamed Mussels in Tomato Cream Sauce

Quick to cook, oh-so-perfect mussels in the best cream sauce ever. Serve with a baguette for dipping!

Steamed mussels are so fancy. SO SO FANCY. But they are also incredibly easy and quick to prepare, and you can serve to guests with all the street cred of slaving away in the kitchen. The only hard part is cleaning up the mussels prior to cooking, but don’t worry – with a few steps, that’s really easy too.

You’ll want to run the mussels under cold water first, rinsing and scrubbing away the debris like seaweed and sand, and removing the “beard” as needed. The beard is exactly how it sounds – a thin brown string that can be removed from the hinged end of the shell. You can use your fingers or a knife, working carefully, for those pesky beards.

Once cleaned and debearded, these bad boys are ready to go. Ready to swim in a heavenly garlicky, tomato-based white wine cream sauce. A cream sauce so good we’ll need all the crusty bread for dipping purposes. And I really do mean all the bread (the best part of the dish, really).

tips and tricks for success

• Check over the mussels. Rinse and scrub the mussels, and debeard as needed. Although farm-raised mussels will already come debearded, it’s still a good idea to do a once-over, discarding any mussels that are open or have cracked shells.
• Avoid storing the mussels in water prior to cooking. Uncooked mussels should not be stored in water or in an airtight container as they need to breathe. The uncooked mussels can be placed in a bowl, covered with a damp dishtowel, in the fridge for 1-2 days.
• Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
• Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!

Print

Steamed Mussels in Tomato Cream Sauce

Quick to cook, oh-so-perfect mussels in the best cream sauce ever. Serve with a baguette for dipping!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Equipment

• Dutch Oven

Ingredients

• 3 pounds fresh mussels
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 shallots diced
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock
• ⅓ cup dry white wine
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup basil leaves torn
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

• Scrub and debeard mussels under cold running water, discarding any mussels that are cracked.
• Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in tomato sauce, stirring constantly, until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in chicken stock and wine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced and flavors have blended, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Stir in mussels. Cover, with a tight-fitting lid, and cook until the mussels have opened, stirring once, about 5-7 minutes. Discard any unopened mussels.
• Remove from heat; stir in heavy cream, basil and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Serve immediately.

The post Steamed Mussels in Tomato Cream Sauce appeared first on Damn Delicious.