Victorian fresh mussels are always fabulous and wonderfully versatile. Here are three delicious ways to enjoy them: in a broth, with spaghetti, and as a risotto.
There are two of us in my household, and we usually buy 2 kilos of mussels. Sometimes we eat them all; other times I use the leftovers to create another meal. There’s usually some mussel broth left over from steaming them in a little white wine — I store this in glass jars in the freezer. I also save any cooking juices from other seafood dishes to use later as a base for soups, sauces, or risotto made with seafood.
My partner enjoys shopping at the Queen Victoria Market and off he goes with his list, his bag and his mask (during Covid) to shop. on one occasion, he came home with 3 kilos of mussels. Since we were in lockdown, we couldn’t share them with anyone else, and so it was just the two of us. I don’t like freezing seafood either fresh or cooked so we consumed then in three days. By the third day, we were feeling a little “mussel-ed out but we managed three delicious meals from that single batch.Very frugal.
MUSSELS IN THEIR OWN BROTH
For the first meal, I cooked the 3k of mussels steamed in their own broth. In Italian this is called: In brodetto – brodo is broth…. brodetto is a small broth, nothing too fancy.
I begin with a soffritto of heated olive oil chopped carrots, celery, onion and garlic, with the help of a little white wine, then add the mussels, put on a lid and let them steam open. I sprinkle a little chopped parsley towards the end. We ate these with good quality, home baked bread, rubbed with oil and garlic and toasted in the oven. Perfect for soaking up all that wonderful broth.
There were a little more of 1kilo of mussels left left over and I left half of them whole and in their shell and I took the other half of them out of their shells.
I placed the shelled ones in a jar with some of their broth for a risotto and left the ones in their shells in a container to use the next day for a pasta dish.
MUSSELS WITH SPAGHETTI
On the second day we made some home made egg spaghetti. Home made pasta is not difficult to make, but we had more time during Covid. Obviously dry pasta is fine.
I made a salsa, first by dissolving a few anchovies in a little hot extra virgin olive oil, then I added a can of chopped tomatoes, a whole clove of garlic, a sprig of fresh oregano (because there is no basil growing on my balcony in this cold season otherwise I may have added both). I let the salsa cook with no lid, to reduce and thicken.
Add the mussels just before serving, letting them heat through in the sauce. Toss through the spaghetti and serve immediately. (I like to remove the whole garlic clove before serving — my partner prefers it left in!)
MUSSELS WITH RISOTTO
The final meal was a mussel risotto, simple but deeply satisfying.
This time I used the leftover mussels (removed from their shells in some of their juice) but because I needed more both/stock I took what I had in the freezer – a jar of some left over fish juices that has been cooked in tomato, white wine and herbs. Vegetable stock is OK as well.
There are three types of rice you can use for risotto: Carnaroli, Vialone Nano. and Arborio. Carnaroli has more starch as does Vialone Nano and these two varieties make a risotto creamier. Aborio is the easiest to find in Australia and works beautifully for seafood dishes because it keeps the texture lighter and lets the flavour of the fish shine through.
You might recall many recipes that suggest cooking risotto and gradually adding hot fish or mussel broth, one ladle at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid between additions. This is the usual way to make traditional Italian risotto. For many locals Sicilian rice dishes are unique and made differently. I’ve watched my elderly Sicilian relatives cook rice and have read many Sicilian recipes where some stock (not necessarily heated) is added, the lid is put on, and it’s left to absorb. The liquid may be added twice or three times at the most.
Recipe for making the risotto, quick and easy.
Sauté 2 sliced spring onions and 2 chopped cloves of garlic in extra virgin olive oil. Cook gently by tossing it around in the hot pan and not letting the contents burn.
Then I added one finely sliced fennel and some copped parsley and sautéed it gently by tossing it around till golden.
I added 1 cup of rice (this is sufficient for 2 people but you can add more). Toss it around to coat. Add a good splash of white wine and saffron (a generous pinch soaked beforehand in about 1/2 cup of water).
As you cook the rice, add the fish juices / broth, covering the pot with the lid to allow the rice to absorb the liquid between additions. I added liquid three times, but didn’t use the lid after the third addition to check if more was needed.
When it is nearly cooked add the shelled mussels. Cook the risotto until it is cooked all’onda…it should ripple like the sea, creamy yet loose.
I do not wish to eat mussels again for a couple of weeks.
THERE ARE MANY OTHER RECIPES FOR MUSSELS IN THE BLOG, here are a few:
COZZE (Mussels) GREEN LIPPED MUSSELS WITH TOMATO AND CANNELLINI BEANS
haha, The recipes are fabulous, but I think I would be done also with mussels for a while.