← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 2 kg live mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 30 g Butter
• 2 Shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs Thyme (optional)
• 1 Bay leaves
• 250 ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp Double (heavy) cream (optional)
• 1 handful Parsley, chopped
• 1 baguette or crusty bread, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Rinse the mussels in cold water, pull off any stringy beards and scrape off barnacles. Tap any open mussels on the counter: throw away any that do not close, and any with cracked shells.
2. Melt the butter in a large, wide pot with a lid over medium heat. Cook the shallots, garlic, thyme and bay for 3–4 min, until soft but not coloured.
3. Turn the heat to high, pour in the wine and let it boil for 1 minute. Tip in the mussels and clamp on the lid.
4. Steam for 4–5 min, shaking the pot now and then, until the shells have opened. Throw away any that stay firmly shut.
5. Stir in the cream if using and the parsley. Ladle the mussels and their broth into warm bowls and serve at once with bread, plus an empty bowl for the shells.

Tips

• Buy mussels on the day you cook them and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water or a sealed bag.
• Serve with fries to turn it into moules-frites.
• Serve with gluten-free bread (or fries) to keep it gluten-free.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food RecipeTin Eats Food52