Moules marinière is a basic French dish that is always a popular choice in our restaurants. Perfect for Saturday lunch with a decent glass of something cold. You can make Rick's moules marinière recipe, mussels in white wine, in six simple steps – the splash of white wine gives an extra kick to the sauce which is a delight when mopped up with some crusty bread. Try the recipe with Cornish mussels from our online fishmongers.
Rick says: 'Most people wouldn't dream of cooking moules marinière at home but it really is one of the easiest meals you can make. Cheap to buy, easy to cook and delicious.'
As well as being good value, mussels are also very good for you. The health benefits are plentiful, including high levels of vitamin B-12 to support brain health, omega-3 fatty acids to fight heart disease and they're a great source of protein too. One serving of Rick's recipe below is nearly 50% of your recommended daily protein intake. Also, mussels are naturally salty from where they're grown, so no additional salt is needed in the cooking process.
Rick's moules marinière recipe below calls for both butter and cream to make the sauce, however to reduce the fat and calories in the dish the cream can be left out.
With a little confidence and buying from a trusted source, mussels are very easy to cook. To put it simply, mussels are best steamed in a saucepan with a splash of wine, cider or beer (to create the stream). Your choice of liquid will help to flavour the mussels too alongside onion, garlic and herbs. Within 3-4 minutes of steaming in the pan, with a lid on, all of the mussel shells will have popped open to reveal the cheery yellowy, orange meat inside.
If any of the mussels smell 'off' do not risk cooking any of them - it's not worth it. We recommend cooking them on the day of purchase.
It also worth us sharing how to eat mussels... Use an empty mussel shell as a pincer to remove the meat. The used shells are also an excellent way to enjoy the flavour-packed sauce.
Serves 4
- 1.75kg mussels
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 15g butter
- a bouquet garni of parsley, thyme and bay leaves
- 100ml dry white wine or cider
-120ml double cream
- handful of parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
- crusty bread, to serve
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1) Wash the mussels under plenty of cold, running water. Discard any open ones that won’t close when lightly squeezed.
2) Pull out the tough, fibrous beards protruding from between the tightly closed shells and then knock off any barnacles with a large knife. Give the mussels another quick rinse to remove any little pieces of shell.
3) Soften the garlic and shallots in the butter with the bouquet garni, in a large pan big enough to take all the mussels – it should only be half full.
4) Add the mussels and wine or cider, turn up the heat, then cover and steam them open in their own juices for 3-4 minutes. Give the pan a good shake every now and then.
5) Remove the bouquet garni, add the cream and chopped parsley and remove from the heat.
6) Spoon into four large warmed bowls and serve with lots of crusty bread.
There you have it, Rick's ultimate mussels recipe. It's a shellfish gem to enjoy around the table for lunch or supper with family and friends with a bottle of two of decent white wine, some nice crusty bread and lively conversation. Perfection cooked using Cornish mussels from our online fishmongers - a proper taste of Cornwall.
