I get it, cooking seafood can be intimidating.. so let me share this approachable seafood dish that’s perfect for beginners yet impressive enough for entertaining. These mussels, steamed in aromatic white wine sauce, prove that seafood doesn’t have to be intimidating to be delicious.Tip: Ask your fish monger to clean your mussels for you beforehand to cut out the prep work. You’d be surprised how quick and easy this dish is to put together so crack open a bottle of wine, break some bread and let’s make this together!

Why This Recipe Works

This recipe relies on simple, high-quality ingredients create the most flavorful results. The combination of wine, garlic, and butter creates a sauce that’s perfect for bread dipping, while proper mussel selection ensures safe, delicious results.

Understanding Your Components

1. Mussels:
   • Quality shellfish selection is crucial. Mussels must be alive when cooking, meaning shells should be closed. If they are open or cracked, throw them away, they are not safe to eat.
   • Clean thoroughly before use. It is a labour of love. Soak your mussels in some cold water for 15 minutes then with a knife, start scrapping the debris on the shell of the mussels. Remove the beard as well.
   • Size affects cooking time so watch carefully when the shells start to open up
2. White Wine Sauce: Each element builds flavor:
   • White wine provides acidity and floral notes. The alcohol will get cooked out, leaving behind just flavour. If you cannot consume alcohol, replace this with seafood stock
   • Shallots add sweetness while garlic gives depth
   • Butter enriches sauce and adds a nice glossiness to it
   • Lemon brightens flavors and cuts through the oceanic flavour of the seafood

Tips!

• Safety comes first! Check each mussel is fresh by making sure the shells are closed. Opened or cracked shells should be thrown away, the mussel is no longer safe to eat.
• Keep mussels cold until use
• It doesn’t have to be an expensive bottle of white wine. A cheap white wine works great in this recipe.

Storage and Safety Tips

• Best cooked fresh. Cannot be cooked ahead of time.
• You can clean the mussels a few hours ahead, keep chilled until cooking
• Don’t store cooked mussels
• Serve immediately after finished cooking.

Ingredients

500g mussels (or 10-15 mussels)
1/2 onion or 1 shallot, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Chilli flakes
1 cup white wine (i used Pinot Grigio but you could also use Sauvignon Blanc)
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
1-2 tbs butter
1/2-1 lemon, juice and zest
Handful of parsley, chopped
Bread of choice, toasted

Remember to check your mussels before you cook them. If your mussels are open or cracked, they’re dead so please don’t use them or you’re going to get sick (they should also smell quite off so definitely don’t use them!).

Another tip with mussels: ask your fish monger to clean them for you beforehand. If not, you would need to remove the beard and the excess debris on the shell.

Method

Clean your mussels by removing the beard and dirt from the shells (either with a knife or scrubbing brush). If your mussels are cracked or open, they are dead, discard.

In a pot over low-medium heat, drizzle 4-5tbs of olive oil. Add onion, garlic, tomatoes and chilli flakes, sauté until onion is translucent and the tomatoes are soft.

Add mussels, white wine and butter into the pot. Cover and cook until the mussels have all opened up.

Add the juice and zest of a lemon and top with parsley. Serve with toasted bread.