Mussels (and clams, for that matter) are among our favorite main ingredients for quick, simple weeknight dinners. In fact, there’s rarely an actual recipe involved. A little butter, some garlic and herbs, a little salt and pepper, white wine, give them a good steam and boom! Dinner is served, easy peasy. Realizing that this is a recipe blog, something a little more structured was in order, but it’s still as simple as can be. This is also a great transitional meal as we bid an enthusiastic farewell to the tiring swelter of summer and run “Wuthering Heights”-style toward the cool, color-soaked days of autumn. These mussels are perfectly filling and comforting, and their lovely broth of tomato, fennel, wine and briny shell liquor is just begging to be soaked up by a slice of crusty, gluten free baguette.
This is another of our cherished “One Pot Wonders,” the flavors of which are so harmonious that it you might think we spent hours bent over the pot, stirring lovingly, coaxing the little shells open. Um, no. This dish comes together in about a half an hour, believe it or not. Like we said, it’s a great weeknight dinner option with minimal cleanup, which leaves even more time for binge-watching your newest obsession on Netflix. *cough*StrangerThings! It’s also gluten and dairy free, so double score.
While we used fresh, late summer tomatoes from the farmer’s market–still in abundance, thankfully–rest assured that this dish works just as well with crushed or diced canned tomatoes. It’s pretty forgiving that way.
Actually, it’s pretty forgiving in most ways. Don’t like fennel? Use thin sliced celery or baby greens instead. We added some crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat, but if that’s not your bag, leave them out. One very distinct reason that we love this recipe, though, is that it only calls for about a cup of wine, which means that there’s an open bottle, unfinished, all alone and unprotected…What? Someone has to drink it. Jeez.
While this dish is wonderful on its own, you can add a little heft to it as the weather continues to cool by serving it over gluten free pasta, some nice leftover risotto, or just add a healthy serving of Fresh Corn Polenta. Summer will wish it had more time (it would be alone in that sentiment, btw–buh-bye), and autumn won’t know what hit it. Fire up the pot, slice up the bread, fill up that wine glass and dig in!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 fennel bulb, fronds removed and reserved, cored and thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves
- dash of red pepper flake
- 3 medium tomatoes, grated on a box grater, skins discarded (yielding about 1 cup tomato pulp)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed
- salt and pepper, to taste
- crusty bread, to serve
- In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium low heat. Add the sliced fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel softens and begins to brown, about ten minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two.
- Add tomato pulp and white wine and increase heat to medium high. Bring mixture to a boil.
- Add mussels and reduce heat to medium low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mussels are fully open, about 5 to 6 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, then divide mussels and broth into four bowls. Serve with bread for dipping.
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