← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg Mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 40 g Butter
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 small leek, finely sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 300 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 500 ml fish stock or water
• 100 ml double cream
• 2 tbsp Parsley, chopped
• Black pepper

Method

1. Discard any open mussels that do not close when tapped. Bring the wine to the boil in a large pot, add the mussels, cover and cook over high heat for 4 min, shaking, until opened.
2. Tip into a colander set over a bowl to catch the juices. Discard any unopened mussels, take the rest out of their shells and strain the juices through a fine sieve.
3. Melt the butter in the pot over medium heat and soften the onion, leek and garlic for 5 min. Crumble in the saffron, add the tomatoes and cook for 3 min.
4. Add the mussel juices and stock and simmer for 5 min. Stir in the cream and mussels and warm through for 1 minute without boiling.
5. Season with pepper (the mussels are salty), scatter with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Tips

• Blend half the soup before adding the mussels for a thicker, velvety version close to the classic billy bi.
• Contains shellfish and milk.

Sources

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

Love French Food French Cooking Academy Delicious Magazine