This recipe for Mussels with garlic, leeks and white wine is a traditional French recipe but, I have added my own ingredient quantities and cooking times. It’s been years since we have had mussels and it was a real treat to have them for lunch recently. Very easy and makes you feel like you were sitting in a wonderful French bistro.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs live mussels in their shells
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tspn ground black pepper
- 2-3 whole shallots peeled and chopped, or 1 leek, washed and white and light green parts sliced into 1/2" slices
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and grated
- 1 small carrot cut into thin strips with a potato peeler (optional)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 tbs unsalted butter
- 1 demi loaf baguette
- Garnish
- 5-6 sprigs fresh parsley sprigs chopped
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients before starting recipe.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan.
- Clean and chop either a stalk of leek into thin slices, or peel and chop 2 medium shallots, peel and slice carrot into thin strips with a potato peeler and add to the olive oil/butter
- Grate 5 cloves of peeled garlic and add to leeks/shallots and carrot mixture and stir to combine. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper then reduce heat, cover and sweat the vegetables until they are soft, about 8 - 10 minutes.
- When vegetables are soft, increase heat to medium high, add mussels all at once, then 1/2 cup dry white wine, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 remaining tablespoons of butter. Stir to combine, then cover the pan with a lid and allow to steam until the mussels open, about 3-4 minutes. Discard any un-opened mussels, and ladle mussels into deep bowls, be sure to add a generous amount of the broth, garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
- Serve with slices of fresh baguette.